Terra Nova - Into the Eye of the Storm
by George Tater
Summary: Sequel to After the Occupation. Mid-2151, Terra Nova has lived in peace for over a year. With life settling into a new normal and not a dark cloud in sight, the colonists are finally beginning to let their guard down a little. Still, it's probably not surprising that when disaster finally strikes, it seems to come from every direction at once. After all, when it rains, it pours.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:  
Though I have a great amount of affection for the people and places mentioned in this story, I own the rights to only a few of them. The series Terra Nova and all that is included under its banner are owned by FOX, and the talented writers that created it.**

**=)**

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

Well, hallo again! If you're here and you haven't read After the Occupation, you're welcome to stay, but you might be a tad confused.  
If you're here _after _After the Occupation .. well, nice. You're really committed, aren't you?!  
I never meant to write another story after the last one, but ideas just kept popping into my head, and .. to be honest, I really missed it. I missed the writing, I missed the characters. I don't know how often I'll be updating this one, but at least it gives you a glimpse of where my train of thought was headed after the end of the last story. Hope to see you back here again some time! Who knows where the story may take us!

\- George DeWhite

* * *

**Terra Nova**

**Into the  
Eye of the Storm**

**Prologue**

"And then he just materialised in front of me, like some sort of phoenix rising from the ashes-"

The older man almost spat his water back into the canteen at his lips. He lowered it carefully, shook his head and swallowed, casting a laughing glance at his fellow soldier.

"I dunno, Crawson, you always have the weirdest dreams."

"What do you think it means?"

Crawson's companion leaned on his makeshift staff and looked the younger man in the eye.

"Frankly, I think it means you're getting too much sun." He tossed the canteen sideways. "Here. Drink more, think less."

Crawson snorted as he caught the canteen.

".. thanks."

As he raised it, his eyes caught sight of an odd shape some distance away, slowly moving towards them from just below the outer rim. He squinted, the forgotten canteen paused in mid-air halfway to his mouth.

"What's that?"

The other Phoenix soldier adjusted his position on the staff and followed his companion's gaze. After a few seconds, the tolerant smile fell from his face and he straightened.

"Don't know, but it's coming this way. Get ready."

He pulled the rifle hanging over his back to the front and positioned it defensively as his fellow soldier did the same. It hadn't rained for months (not that they'd been expecting it - rain was an extremely rare occurrence here. Up until recently, they'd been inclined to believe it wasn't possible), and a dreadful haze had settled down on the dust bowl they had been living in. The rocky terrain seemed to shift and ripple in front of their eyes. The Badlands were always warm, but with summer had come an unrelenting heat that threatened to sear the backs off the men that were forced to remain there.

The Phoenix soldiers were getting restless. Since the Sixers had walked out on them in late spring, their numbers had almost halved. Without Mira's crew around, they had been forced to procure food for themselves, and hunting far from camp was both frustrating and dangerous. The men had slowly learned, but not before many of them had become gruesome object lessons for their peers. Water was scarce, medicines almost non-existent. They had come to fear sickness almost as much as outside predators. Secretly, many of the inner circle that remained were beginning to wonder why they had. By setting themselves up against Mira, they appeared to have condemned themselves to death in one way or another. How much longer could they go on?

Still the dark shape hovered nearer.

As it approached, they were able to make out three people in a triangle formation. The figure at the front - the leader, they assumed - was somewhat smaller than the others. The two men at the back were wearing a uniform not so different from their own. The Phoenix soldiers shot each other a hesitant glance as the figures approached the tent. The leader stopped in front of them with folded arms.

"Where's your commanding officer?"

The voice was obviously female. Despite the linen scarf covering her mouth and nose, her speech was surprisingly clear. The men exchanged another look and the older soldier leaned on his stick again, studying her closely.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Both valid questions, but I'm the one doing the asking."

Crawson's eyes moved behind her to rest on the two men who hadn't said a word. They appeared to be listening respectfully. The woman tried again.

"Where's Hooper?"

The Phoenix soldiers glanced back at the tent behind them before returning her gaze.

"He's not .. here."

The woman frowned, her short blonde hair looking as wind-blown and dusty as if someone had swept the floor with her.

"Then where is he?"

"Look, how did you say you got here?"

The soldiers guarding the tent were growing more suspicious. Several other men, having heard the strange voices, had gathered nearby from various other parts of the camp.

"Not important. Not yet anyway."

The woman glanced around at the confused faces and pulled her scarf down to rest under her chin. Smiling slightly, she returned her gaze to the men directly in front of her.

"In answer to your first question, we're the reinforcements. I hear you boys have gotten yourselves into quite a pickle."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Lucas Taylor awoke to the sound of incessant rain thundering down upon the roof of his small house. No surprise, really. It had been raining for almost a week with no signs of stopping. The weather 'experts' were predicting even more rain to come, and the colony had been instructed to prepare for the worst. Lucas wasn't worried, though. Why should he be? In all its past years, he had never known Terra Nova to flood. Why start panicking now? Malcolm and the rest of the scientific nerds were worried, but then, they had always been apt to lose their heads over the slightest possibility of disaster. Lucas stared up at the noisy roof, happily unaware that the group of 'scientific nerds' he had just mentally insulted was a category that also included himself. He stretched his arms behind his head and leaned on them, watching the white sheets above him billowing and rippling with the faint breeze as the rain's ceaseless drum beat persisted.

It was as if these people hadn't seen a bit of rain before. It was water! What was it gonna do? They'd be miserable and soggy for a while, but they'd get over it. Well, perhaps a small cold as well for the lucky ones. There was a few people he could think of that might benefit from a small cold. Just a small one. He sighed loudly, but there was no one to hear his wordless complaining. He returned to his thoughts. Today was the day they'd planned to start filling up sandbags. The market people had been instructed to begin work on the actual bags only a few days into the rain. The colony's ever-conscientious Commander was accounting for all possibilities. Jim Shannon had a tendency to go above and beyond. Ah well, the colony had had worse leaders in the past.

Sandbagging.

Lucas snorted as his mind flicked back to his previous train of thought. It was an ancient form of disaster prevention, but still somewhat effective, he supposed, even if it was unnecessary.

He rolled his head sideways and looked over at the little clock on his bedside table. 3:16. He knew the familiar soft ticking so well by now, his mind almost convinced him he could make it out through the pounding above him. Most of the colonists didn't bother with clocks. They all had tags - small transparent blue rectangles of technology that held their entire identities encased inside the plexiglass, as well as other small necessities such as the time of day. Being a reformed criminal, he wasn't permitted to have a tag. Usually, he didn't need one - he'd learned to estimate the time fairly effectively during his stint in the wilderness, but he often woke during the night and lay thinking for hours on end. He'd always been a light sleeper, prone to nightmares and insomnia. Now that he was living in a house and could no longer see the sky the moment he opened his eyes, the time stretched on indefinitely. Many nights passed where he would lie awake and watch the linen flutter above him for several years before morning finally came. Somehow knowing the time helped him to calm his wandering mind and fall asleep. His eyes trailed over the strange-looking combination of carved wood and translucent plexiglass. The clock was one of a kind. It had been given to him on Christmas Day a few months ago. Lucas smiled to himself as the memory resurfaced. He had woken that morning with the vague knowledge that it was Christmas - How could he have avoided the reality? It had been all the market people could talk about for weeks. He could basically recite their spiel off by heart.

_"Come and have a look at the new items we've put out. Been workin' real hard on these beauties. How'd you like to bring this home as a gift to a special someone?" _

When the actual day had dawned, he had gotten up and wandered aimlessly around the house for a few minutes before deciding it was just like any other morning and proceeding to automatically work through his morning routine. It had been years since he had celebrated Christmas anyway. On the way to the sink after finishing his customary cup of orange juice, he had heard a knock at the door. Upon opening it, he had found his two favourite people, Deborah and Skye Tate, standing on his doorstep with large smiles on their faces. Odd, but .. sure. He had let them in unceremoniously and placed a cup of juice in each of their hands. He still remembered the laughing look they had exchanged as they sat down, but they had said nothing at the time, instead starting up another ordinary conversation and sipping their juice happily. He had sat down on the couch opposite them and listened for a moment until the conversation died and their focus turned back to him. After a few awkward seconds of silence in which they had all examined each other blankly, he had found a small box being thrust into his empty hands. Carelessly waving away his protests about not having gotten them anything, Deborah and Skye sat waiting and watching expectantly. In the end, there was no help for it but to open the box. Shoving down the uncalled-for lurch in his stomach, Lucas had carefully opened the lid and drawn out this little clock.

He reached for it now and held it in front of his face with both hands. Such a small thing, but if anything ever happened to it, he probably would've killed everyone around him and then himself. He placed it back carefully onto his bedside table and rolled over so that he was facing it. Smiling at it, he continued his mental tale.

They hadn't told him where they'd found it (though he suspected Casey Durwin, the wheelchair-bound local trader, may have had something to do with it). Instead, they had watched in silence as he turned it over and over in his hands. After a few moments, he had awkwardly stammered his thanks and looked up, expecting them to seem disappointed by his lack of reaction. He was both confused and relieved to find they did not look disappointed in the least. In fact, they had seemed as pleased as if they had been given the gift themselves. The rest of the morning passed in comfortable spurts of conversation. Once, Skye had looked back from talking with her mother to see him studying the clock thoughtfully. He had glanced up to find her watching him with a raised eyebrow. When questioned, she had threatened to take it off him if he so much as took the casing off it. He had promised not to.

He patted the top of the clock in a friendly fashion and rolled onto his back once more. After a few serious chess matches with Skye (as her mother looked on with interest), they had bidden him farewell and Merry Christmas. They were heading over to the Shannons' house for lunch and didn't want to keep them waiting (especially considering Josh would apparently be "snacking on the table soon"). With an affectionate goodbye, they had taken their departure, leaving him to digest the events of the morning alone.

He rolled his eyes automatically as he thought of the Shannons, though his heart wasn't really in it. The family of goody-two-shoes had been kinder than necessary where he was concerned, and for that, he supposed he had to be grateful. Lucas suddenly felt the urge to mentally slap himself. He _was_ grateful. He was growing to like the weird little group more than he cared to admit. He half sat up to thump his pillow in mild irritation. Why was everything so uncomfortable tonight?! Flopping back down onto his submissive head rest, his mind turned to his day job at the Lab. He had his own little desk in his own little corner, but was also free to wander around the main area as he wished, so long as he didn't interfere with anyone else's work .. or come into contact with anything potentially dangerous in the hands of a deranged lunatic. Evidently Malcolm still didn't trust him completely yet. When the head researcher was busy (as he usually was), Lucas either worked on his own small projects, or side-by-side with Maddy Shannon, Malcolm's other assistant. At first, both parties had resented the arrangement - Lucas being paired up with yet ANOTHER Shannon, and Maddy having to work with .. well, Lucas. In the months that had followed, however, they had grown to accept the situation with an air of resignation and even found they worked surprisingly well together. Maddy was smart and picked up on his scattered trains of thought quickly, and Lucas appreciated having someone around who understood the benefits of intelligent conversation. At least until IT happened. One day Maddy had come bounding into the Lab all giddy and giggly and announced that Mark had finally asked her to marry him. She had startled both Lucas and Malcolm, and the latter had almost tipped over his experiment in the process, which, though amusing, wouldn't have been ideal (especially as his desk had only been replaced a few weeks beforehand). Lucas had stared at her blankly while Malcolm attempted to recover himself enough to offer his congratulations. Lucas clumsily added his own to Malcolm's, and Maddy graciously accepted them. Then they had all returned to work. That, he assumed, would be the end of it. Not so. Not by a long shot. From that moment up to the present, her every thought seemed to be about the upcoming wedding. Every _conversation_ they had would eventually, somehow, end up being related back to the wedding. Every _experiment_ they did might have been turned into a weapon that had the potential to obliterate the wedding .. okay, maybe that was just on his side of the story, but enough was enough. He smiled to himself as he thought of Jim. Rumour had it, poor Jim had been so overwhelmed with the prospect of his eldest daughter's upcoming marriage, he had ended up being escorted to the Infirmary by Sergeant Reilly, his second-in-command. Whether this was entirely true or not wasn't the point. It was half-true, and that was enough for the colony grapevine.

Lucas shook his head. All these colony people did was sit around and talk about things that were none of their business to begin with. For the most part, though, he could ignore them. He could ignore the stares and the whispers and the blatant snubbing. He'd learned to ignore it. He had to! It was either that, or be a nervous wreck all the time. Now he barely noticed. He'd settled into a comfortable state of existence in which he liked certain people and completely ignored the rest. In reality, the only person he could be bothered _really_ despising .. was Josh Shannon. He'd happily sit and watch someone whacking Josh with a giant meat mallet if given half the opportunity. He'd probably pay them to do it! Lucas was unable to hold back a laugh at the mental picture, but he could barely hear his own laughter anyway. The rain, if possible, had grown even louder. He scowled up at the roof. A little rain-patter helped to lull him to sleep, but this was ridiculous. How could he sleep with nature's brass band playing above his bed?!

A sharp knock on the front door up the hall rapidly put an end to his train of thought.

"LUCAS! Get up! Snakehead's broken its banks!"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Stumbling outside onto his front doorstep, Lucas was immediately greeted by the unpleasant sensation of water soaking into his shoes. Looking around, it seemed the entire colony was out and about. Everywhere he looked, people were shuffling madly around, the sounds of their frantic chatter mixing with the steady beating of the rain. The colony lights were on at full-strength, casting weird hazy shadows through the dark gloom. The fractured light reflected off the rippling water at his feet, adding a dizzying effect to the odd scene. He wandered towards the edge of his small patio, feeling as though he'd stepped into a different world. Was this his colony? Was he still sleeping?

Just then, he felt a damp hand collide firmly with his shoulder and a teasing voice flew past. He regained his balance just in time to see a soaking wet Josh Shannon darting away in front of him.

"Don't fall in! Never know what kind of infectious bacteria might be - _mfshmchfm_ \- water!"

Josh and his voice faded away as Lucas squinted out into the rain. It seemed to be growing louder still. He frowned down at the dirty water that was currently caressing the toes of his boots. It was barely an inch high, but the surrounding houses were low-set. Without quick action, most of the colony would be underwater shortly. Maybe the whole sandbagging idea wasn't so crazy after all .. but Snakehead breaking its banks?! The river was several miles away - he ought to know; it wasn't so long ago he had lived right beside it - and there were numerous valleys and gullies between Snakehead and the colony. Just how much water was out there? Lucas steeled himself against the chill and stepped out into the pelting rain, gritting his teeth when it struck him. One might think the water would be warm considering it was the middle of summer, but .. one would be wrong. Within seconds, his hair was plastered to his forehead as the freezing droplets glued his shirt to his back. He held up a hand to shield his eyes and gazed out into the night towards the boundary fence. Lucas swallowed as his heart sunk involuntarily. He couldn't see a thing past the last set of lights. The whole world could be an ocean and he wouldn't know it.

* * *

"I told you - STOP. RUNNING." Jim Shannon grabbed his son's arm just as Josh was about to dart away again. "The water's lapping at the doorsteps of most of the houses already. Your splashing could send it over. Then you'd be popular."

"Well, good. Popularity was always my main concern."

The Commander glared affectionately at his son through the veil of water. Josh grinned back, looking just as much like a drowned rat as his father did. They would've painted quite an amusing picture, had anyone the time to take any notice. Jim shook his head.

"Must be your mother's influence."

Josh snorted and shook his own head madly in response, causing his father to choke back an exclamation in favour of tightly closing his mouth. When the tirade of extra spray ceased, Jim wiped his face off with his equally damp hand.

"Was that necessary?"

"What?" Josh stared at him innocently. "You're already wet! I didn't think you'd mind!"

"Doesn't mean I wanted to be assaulted with it from 4 different directions."

Josh rolled his eyes at his father's grumbling and headed off again - slowly.

"Now that the Infirmary's done, I'm gonna check on old Wendell. Chances are, he's still snoring like a clogged sewer." Josh brightened. "Although, if we're lucky, he'll have-"

"Careful .."

".. heard the racket and woken up." Josh stared at his father with wide eyes. "What? What did you think I was gonna say?!"

"Nothing. Better check on the school before I head back. Stay safe!"

Jim waved briefly at his son before hurriedly setting off. Josh grinned and disappeared into the rain again.

"Always!"

* * *

Lucas paused a short distance away and looked around at the slightly elevated platform in front of the Command Centre. It was bright and buzzing with movement, despite the unearthly hour of the morning. As the gathering crowd began to disperse, he caught sight of a few frazzled people in the centre. They appeared to be in the process of handing out sandbags from a large wagon. He made his way towards them. The muddy water sucked at his shoes as he pulled his feet up and out, grasping at them as though it was making a last desperate attempt to keep him down below. After expending more energy than should've been necessary, Lucas found himself standing on the platform. Ordinarily, it would've been a relief to get out of the water, even for just a short time, but his shoes and feet were so soaked, it felt as though he was still standing in it. His tags under his shirt stuck fast to his chest as though the water had glued them there. His clothes felt twice as heavy as they usually did, and his legs were beginning to itch from the wet material. The muddy water ran off him and mixed with the puddles of rain on the platform. He was thoroughly uncomfortable.

And the downpour continued.

"What do you mean, "we're all out"? The Lab still hasn't .. well, go get some more!" Malcolm Wallace turned around in frustration as Lucas approached. "Hello, sleepy head. Finally decided to get out of bed?"

Lucas nodded in response and examined the wagon more closely. It was empty.

"Yes." Malcolm said in reply to the unasked question. "We've run out .. again. I've set some aside for the Lab, but I'm not going to get any time to actually put them there if I have to keep making trips to the shed."

As Lucas looked up to meet his gaze, Malcolm smiled.

"That's where you come in, my lad. They're filling sandbags over there in the vehicle shed. You can go help them and bring some more back." He put the handle of the large wagon into Lucas' hand and nodded as if the matter was settled. "Have fun."

With that, Malcolm leapt off the platform, causing a giant splash as his feet hit the water. As Malcolm set off determinedly toward the Lab, Lucas looked around at the other people on the platform, evidently waiting expectantly for him to go. He rolled his eyes and trudged off into the water again, dragging his pet wagon behind him.

* * *

Zoe Shannon sighed again as she stared out the window.

"I really want to go out there and see everything, but I'd get a lecture for even asking."

"Don't ask." Her friend Leah responded from the floor. "Do."

The girl sitting opposite Leah smiled and flicked her eyes up in Zoe's direction. She was a year or two older than her companions, but was still struggling to hold her own in the strategy game she was engaged in with the younger girl. Leah was surprisingly sharp for her age.

Sienna hadn't lived in the colony for long. Her previous home in 2150 had been obliterated and she had been very lucky to make it out alive, much less end up in Terra Nova. Not many people understood how she had come to reside with them, but she was commonly regarded as an object of peculiar interest by the locals. Some watched her with a hint of sadness, knowing her only as the last person to ever come through from the future. Others regarded her with disdain and distrust, recognising her as the daughter of the former rebel leader. The younger girls' friendliness had come as a great surprise, though Sienna didn't know the other side of the story. Zoe and Leah had taken a fair bit of convincing to even approach her, but eventually Jim and Elisabeth had gotten their message through. Who the girl was or had been was not her fault. All she was _now_ was a sad, lonely child, and regardless of the age difference or what anyone else might tell them, they were encouraged to be nice to her. This proved to be easier than either of the younger girls had anticipated, and they hit it off with Sienna almost instantly. Mira had accepted the friendship with outward disapproval (which probably encouraged Sienna more than her mother's approval ever would have anyway), but secretly she was grateful to the girls for seeing past her daughter's reputation. Mira was acutely aware that that reputation was her own fault, and that the responsibility for her daughter's unhappiness lay heavily on her own shoulders. When Sienna had come home with a smile on her face instead of the usual dark expression, Mira had almost cried with relief herself, though you wouldn't have known it by her outward manner.

Despite being older than them, Sienna had grown to care about the younger girls a great deal. She didn't have any other friends - after all, who would want their children associating with the "Princess of the Sixers"? Carter had visited one day and overheard one of the older boys calling her by her hated nickname. It had taken all of Sienna's persuasion to convince him not to "give the kid a lesson he wouldn't forget in a hurry." Still, Carter had looked so furious that the older boy hadn't spoken to her since. All's well that ends well ..

Sienna said nothing, but pointed at Leah with raised eyebrows as if to illustrate her agreement. An indignant voice from behind made both Sienna and Zoe jump.

"I beg your pardon, you will not _do._"

They turned around to see Elisabeth Shannon in the process of putting her jacket on. She raised an eyebrow at the girls disapprovingly and exchanged a glance with her eldest daughter beside her.

"Better watch these guys like a hawk, Maddy. Troublemakers if ever I saw them." The girls grinned as Elisabeth continued. "I want you to listen to Maddy. It's a strange and exciting night, but I don't want any shenanigans. Understood?"

When she was satisfied with their responses, Elisabeth turned to Maddy again.

"I'll just be over at the Infirmary if you need me. Don't let them get into too much mischief .. and try to keep yourself out of mischief as well."

"Mom .." Maddy chided gently as the girls giggled. ".. you'll break down my authority."

"Sorry." Her mother smiled unrepentantly as she went around and said goodbye to all four girls. Finally, she paused at the door. "Be safe, my dears, and don't make yourselves sick on cookies."

As the girls gasped in delight, Elisabeth spoke in a low voice to Maddy.

"Your Dad's gone to get the sandbags for the house now. All going well, the water won't make it this far, but if it does, put the girls on the beds and make sure everything that can be lifted is off the floor. We can clean up tomorrow. Just make sure you're all safe."

"Understood. You can trust me."

"I know I can." Elisabeth smiled affectionately at her daughter and leaned in a little closer. "But I don't want to answer to Mira if Sienna gets sick."

Maddy shook her head emphatically.

"No, me either. We'll be fine, Mom. Don't worry about us."

"An impossible request, I'm afraid."

Elisabeth took one more look around the room and, after giving Maddy a last quick hug, ducked out into the rain. Maddy closed the door quietly and turned around to find all three of her charges watching her solemnly. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"So .. you guys are too sleepy for cookies, right?"

* * *

"Malcolm!"

Jim stopped abruptly as the two men hurried past each other. Malcolm paused in his tracks and turned to Jim, a sandbag on each arm.

"I have to get to the Lab. What is it?"

"I just finished our house. I'm heading back to the Command Centre."

Before Jim had finished his sentence, the rain started thundering anew, and Malcolm stared at him in confusion.

"WHAT?!"

"THE COMMAND .. the Command Centre." They both glanced at the sky in annoyance as the rain eased again. "How much of the colony has been done?"

Malcolm frowned in thought for a moment.

"Most of the west side, and the public buildings .. besides the Lab." He added, with a lazy glare in Jim's direction. "The rest are half-done. But we'll be lucky if we don't run out of sandbags before then."

Jim's forehead creased at the prospect.

"Is it really that bad?"

Malcolm shifted his arms to re-balance the weight of the bags.

"Let's just say if it keeps on the way it is, these are a temporary solution."

Jim shook his head and gazed around at a few valiant colonists who had finished their own houses and gone to help others. His voice dropped forebodingly with his next words.

"Malcolmus, if you're at all religious .. start praying."

Malcolm snorted.

"I'm a scientist. Theological matters aren't really my speciality."

"Start anyway. We need all the help we can get."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hi!" Skye's greeting was much squeakier than expected, and Lucas almost stepped back out into the rain. He followed her gaze back to Irving, a fellow security team member that they were both very familiar with. Silas Irving, who was in the process of filling sandbags on her right, raised an eyebrow at Skye, but said nothing. As Skye turned back around, Lucas met her eyes with a questioning expression. She was blinking an awful lot .. what had he just walked in on? He pulled his wagon inside and laid the handle down slowly, deciding to attempt a casual conversation.

"They've run out of sandbags at the Command Centre. How are you two getting along?"

"If only this rain would stop .." Skye grumbled, ignoring his double-sided question.

"Come on, you should love it! Buckets are made for water."

"Funny." She glanced at Irving, still looking vaguely uneasy. "Look, I think you better go. I have a job to do, you know."

Skye raised her shovel and picked up a sandbag as if he needed a visual demonstration of how sandbagging worked.

"I came to see if I could help. Looks like you've got it covered."

As Skye opened her mouth to answer, Irving slid past behind her.

"I didn't say a word."

She smiled in discomfort and forced herself not to shy away from the hiss directly behind her ear. Lucas was still staring in confusion. With a glance at Irving's retreating back, Skye looked at the ground and shifted nervously.

"Sorry, we don't have any more shovels."

Lucas nodded slowly and shrugged.

"Okay."

Skye turned to look at Silas again. He was busy helping one of his fellow soldiers and didn't see her. As Lucas turned to venture back out into the rain, she appeared to concede defeat.

"You could hold the bag for me .."

Lucas nodded slowly and came forward to accept the offered position.

"Okay .."

The vehicle shed was situated on a slightly higher section of land than the colony houses. It sat on the border of the remaining wilderness area inside the fence. As the houses spread, the wilderness patch grew increasingly smaller, but seeing as they hadn't had any new colonists for a long time, the construction had dramatically slowed. The shed was high and dry at the moment and would probably be one of the last places to go under if the colony should continue to flood. The Command Centre was the other. Therefore, the two areas were the current bases of operations.

They worked in relative silence for a while, filling bags and placing them in the wagon. There was little need to talk, and the rain was rattling so hard off the shed roof that they probably wouldn't have been able to hear each other anyway. Silas returned shortly afterwards, and still they carried on solemnly, ignoring each other for the most part. Finally, Irving tired of the quiet.

"Well, aren't we a happy bunch?"

Skye and Lucas exchanged a wry smile. If Irving could create an awkward atmosphere, he certainly had the ability to dissolve it just as well.

"If this rain keeps up, we'll have to cancel the Market Festival in favour of a regatta!"

Lucas scoffed as he tied up another bag.

"I can just see you now, sailing elegantly down the Main Street with a glass on one knee."

"And a pretty lady on the other." Irving added, grinning wickedly at Skye. "Any takers, Tate?"

Lucas snorted again and threw the sandbag into the wagon a little too roughly.

"Oh, come on. You'd have enough trouble not falling out of the boat!"

Skye laughed and shook her head.

"And this is exactly why I have Josh to keep me sane. If I had to spend much more time with you two, I think I'd fall out of the boat myself!"

Lucas glanced at Silas, expecting to see an echo of his own annoyance on the younger man's face. Instead, he found Irving was studying _him_, a small smile beginning to creep into his features. Silas blinked at Lucas through his half-dry fringe for a moment before flicking the sandy brown hair out of his eyes and turning back to his current task with a derisive snort.

Skye noticed none of this. In truth, she had barely seen Josh over the past six months, but the Market Festival _was_ coming up. She'd been hanging onto the thought for weeks. She'd see her best friend soon enough. A deafening silence suddenly put an end to her thoughts. She stared around at Lucas, Irving, and a few other soldiers in the shed. Everyone had frozen.

"Is it .."

"What .."

The voices were barely as loud as a whisper. It was as if everyone was afraid of breaking the silence and having noise crash down upon them again if they spoke too loudly. Someone looked out of the large shed opening and then turned back with wide eyes.

"The rain's stopped."

"Hallelujah." Irving muttered under his breath as he placed his sandbag on top of the already-full wagon.

They glanced down the production line. The other two wagons were close to being filled up as well. There was barely an empty bag left in the shed. With another glance out into the strangely peaceful colony, Lucas took the handle of his wagon.

"Guess I'll take these down."

Irving nodded and reached out to pick up the handle of another one.

"Guess we'll all go. The sooner we get these down, the sooner we can go to bed."

A few other soldiers enthusiastically agreed with the sentiment and hurried to ready themselves as well. Shortly afterward, a small line of wagons trailed out of the shed and into the early morning darkness.

* * *

"You're doing it wrong. You can't lean it that far to the right. The structural integrity-"

"I'm sorry." Malcolm stood up abruptly, his ordinarily spiky hair now lying sadly across his forehead. The temporary relieve from the rain evidently wasn't improving his mood. "I wasn't aware you had a degree in engineering, but please. Go ahead."

The tall woman behind him folded her arms and raised her chin a little, but made no reply. Malcolm turned back to his endeavour. A few moments later, Mira spoke up again.

"You have a gap-"

Malcolm threw down an uncooperative sandbag and shot up again.

"Would you like to do this yourself, your majesty, or shall I continue?!"

"I'm trying to help you."

"Oh, that's very sweet. Very touching." Malcolm shook his head and pointed at another house a short distance away. "Help from over there then!"

Assuming Mira would give up, he turned his back on her and resumed his task. A few moments later, her voice almost made him sit down in the tiny lake beneath him.

"I don't see anyone else offering to help you."

"That's because I don't need any help!" Malcolm snapped, composing himself a moment later with a triumphant "There!". He then stood up. Just in time, as it happened. While he turned to glare smugly at his unwelcome companion, a small tsunami made its way towards them. They noticed the two foot high wall of water a second before it hit.

"No .. NO!"

Mira, unlike Malcolm, didn't attempt to plead with the wave, and the wave certainly had no intention of listening. It flew past them and surged gracefully over the structurally sound barricade and against the door of the Lab.

A very angry, wet Malcolm was left surveying the soggy remains of his efforts.

"I don't believe this! What was that?!"

"Maybe the wind came up."

Mira offered the possibility in the least convincing way possible, but Malcolm would've disagreed with her regardless. He looked around the shadowy colony for a moment and listened. Only the slosh of unwelcome liquid and the occasional drip of rain could be heard. It seemed as though the colony had fallen strangely silent in that particular moment. Malcolm turned back to Mira with an uneasy frown.

"There is no wind."

Mira shrugged and turned her back on the unknown source of the wave.

"Guess you better start cleaning up."

Malcolm ran a hand through his soggy hair and groaned.

"This'll take me all night to fix."

"All morning."

Malcolm said nothing, but glared stubbornly at her for an uncomfortably long period of time. Mira hesitated for a few moments and then rolled her eyes.

"We better get to it then."

Malcolm paused with his hand over his mouth and stared at her.

"You're serious?"

"Better hand me a mop before I change my mind."

"Gladly."

As Malcolm stepped carefully over the sandbag wall, he suddenly paused and looked back again. After exchanging another glance with Mira, they entered the safety of the Lab, both desperately hoping they had imagined the faint splash that had farewelled them.

* * *

"Why the long face, Corporal?"

Skye's commanding officer came to stand beside her as she watched the small parade make its way carefully down toward the colony centre.

Military ranks in Terra Nova worked a little differently to most. Taylor hadn't cared for the complicated design of the current military system in 2142 and had simplified it to his own satisfaction when he had founded the colony.

New recruits were privates, then after a recruit had been with the security team for a year, they were automatically granted the title of Corporal. After that, they could work their way up the ranks depending on the need and availability. Most security team members were corporals, but the unspoken law was that the longer you'd been with the team, the more seniority and respect you were afforded. Reilly, having been promoted after her heroics in the occupation, was a sergeant, and served as the Commander's right-hand man. Jim wasn't technically enlisted in the army, but when he had become the leader of the colony, he had inherited the title along with it. Reilly had stepped up to fill the shoes of the former second-in-command, Lieutenant Washington.

Currently, Reilly was the highest ranking officer under Jim, as they had no lieutenants, but seeing as they didn't strictly adhere to the ranks, no one gave it much thought. To the wider public, they were generally known as security team members, and as all of the soldiers knew their place within the unit, their official titles were rarely used. Their last names usually sufficed. They were a well-oiled machine .. for the most part.

To recap, Private - Corporal - Sergeant - Lieutenant - Commander. There were only 5 official ranks in Terra Nova, with Commander being the highest. The Commander oversaw the entire colony and had the final say in just about everything.

Only a few people knew that on one night several years ago, their commander had _not_ been the highest-ranking officer in the colony. A 6th rank had come into play for just a few minutes - a general had once set foot on Terra Novan soil. That same general was now residing in an unmarked grave in Memorial Field .. which was now probably completely submerged.

Reilly glanced at her quiet subordinate and followed Skye's gaze. Now that the rain had finally eased, the shed provided a clear view of the rest of colony. The houses stood like little islands growing out of the glossy black water. It was impossible to tell how deep the water was, though both soldiers knew it was barely two inches at the deepest point. If the water didn't rise any more, if this was the worst it got, it had already caused catastrophic damage. The crops were gone. The trees in the orchard were dying. The medicinal herbs for the Infirmary were safe for now, kept in a large greenhouse in the centre of the colony, but for the next year, the majority of the colony's food would have to come from the wilderness. There would be very little grain, fruit, or vegetables left. When the water went down, the colony would appear brown and lifeless. There would be mud everywhere. The grass and gardens were almost completely dead already. Twas a sobering prospect.

Reilly's distressed thoughts returned to Skye.

"Don't tell me that after all this time, Irving's finally gotten to you."

Skye was silent for a moment before breaking into a short laugh.

"Irving likes to talk regardless of whether or not he understands the subject. I'm fine." Skye bit her lip and glanced at Reilly. "Just worried about the colony."

"Aren't we all."

"Better keep going. We only have a few bags left and we might as well use them."

Skye shook her head slightly and shot a grim smile at her superior before retreating back inside the shed. As she watched Skye return to her shovelling, Reilly made a mental note to keep an eye on her young protege. Irving, despite his frequent lack of tact, was one of the most naturally insightful people she knew.

* * *

At about 8:30 am, morning half-broke, and a single ray of sunlight speared through the drizzly gloom. A momentary cheer went up from the exhausted colony before it vanished again. When 9:00 struck, and the rain still hadn't restarted, the civilians were sent home to bed. The water had begun receding and the rest of the preparations and cleanup were best done after some sleep.

By 10:00, the colony was silent and still, though it remained cloaked in a weird, eerie darkness due to the thick clouds overhead. A restless calm had descended upon Terra Nova, only heightened by the forecast of another downpour that afternoon. For now, all they could do was wait. The colony sank into a fitful sleep.

On the other side of Terra Nova, in the dark atmosphere of the drizzly morning, the Probe flickered twice, casting a sharp light into the dreary fog before returning to its slumber.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next few days were a frustrating mess of rain, sunshine, rain, flood, and sun. Just when it seemed the flood banks would overflow, the rain stopped. Just when it seemed the water had disappeared, it would begin to rain again. Four days after Snakehead broke its banks, it had repeated the process several times. Shortly after the first flood panic, the researchers in the Lab had been tasked with the design and creation of a built-in flood prevention shield for the houses. By about mid-morning on the fourth day, Lucas was close to flipping his own desk as another sudden downpour sent his train of thought out the window again (naturally, this would've been a futile and painful process anyway, seeing as his desk was secured to the floor). He was saved from the Infirmary trip by an amused voice behind him.

"Someone looks tense."

"You have no idea."

As she stepped beside him, he glanced up at her. Her security team uniform was soaked and she'd left slippery puddles on the floor in her wake. Evidently the recent burst of rain had caught her on the way over. Lucas frowned and turned back to his project.

"What happened now? Dunham drop his pistol in the floodwaters again?"

Skye shook her head and glanced around the room.

"Where's Malcolm?"

Lucas looked down at the growing pond beside his desk, and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well .. ?"

She sighed and folded her arms with a self-deprecating smile.

"One of the sonic cannons has given up the ghost."

"Ah."

Lucas returned to his calculations and began swiping at the screen on his desk in agitation. Skye cast another glance around the room for Malcolm and then fell to watching him work. After a moment, Lucas swiped the screen violently, causing the little figures to dance and spin in wild spirals. Skye studied him as he leaned back and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

Skye assumed this was a rhetorical question and remained silent. Lucas leaned forward again and shook his head.

"I'm wasting my time, that's what I'm doing."

".. ooookey." Skye decided it was best to leave him to it. She stepped away from the desk to go in search of Malcolm, but found a firm hand on her arm.

"Sorry."

Even the apology sounded frustrated. Skye cast a long-suffering glance at the roof and turned to face the screen again, folding her arms and causing him to drop his hand.

"Alright. Explain it to me. What's the problem?"

Lucas shook his hand a little and examined it with a short laugh.

".. you wouldn't understand a word I said."

"Undoubtedly." Skye smiled as he wiped his damp hand on his pants in disgust. "Just do it. It might help."

He studied her for a moment and then appeared to make up his mind.

"Alright."

Two products came of the next few minutes. One being that by the end of it, Skye was convinced Lucas was speaking in a language he was probably inventing on the spot. The other being that Lucas realised his own mistake, as one often does under the same circumstances. He faltered mid-equation and then broke off, turning to her in delight.

"Bucket, you're a genius!"

"Great! Now that you're on a roll, you can go fix the cannon!"

A body followed the voice as Malcolm appeared around a corner, focused on the screen of his tablet. Skye frowned.

"Really? You're sending _him_ to fix a dangerous weapon?"

Malcolm frowned at his screen.

"Well, it's not dangerous at the moment, is it? .. Don't worry, if he starts doing something suspicious .. shoot him!"

Skye nodded in reply.

"That, I can do!"

Malcolm finally looked up at her, smiling happily at the prospect. His smile rapidly vanished, however, when he saw the state of Skye's clothing.

"Ohh, please tell me you are not tracking water all through the room I just finally got to dry again."

Lucas looked up at Skye and raised his eyebrows reproachfully. She looked from him to Malcolm and guiltily slid her foot along the ground, making a futile attempt to disguise the puddle beneath her.

"Don't!" Malcolm barked as he placed his tablet on the centre table. "Don't spread it. I'll get you a towel."

* * *

"Just ask him, please."

"Maddy, he won't _want_ to."

"He might! I think he'd like to be asked. We can put him with Zoe!" Maddy laughed and unlinked her arm from Mark's as they reached the Lab entrance. "At least think about it. I don't want him to feel .."

".. overlooked."

"Exactly."

Mark shook his head and smiled affectionately at her.

"I'll think about it. Just so you know I'm not going to do _everything_ you ask me to do. A husband has to be unpredictable."

"Oh really?"

Maddy raised her eyebrows and shot him a teasing smile. Mark returned the look so accurately that Maddy gave a shout of laughter.

"That's it. The next time my dad teases you, you have to do that back at him."

Mark feigned a terrified expression that was only half an act.

"And then _you_ can explain the situation when I've spent the night in the brig!"

"Oh, come on, he wouldn't do that .." Maddy paused for a moment, looking vaguely concerned as Mark stepped toward the door and held it open for her. ".. I don't _think_."

Her fiancé looked aggrieved and swiped at her on the way past.

"Don't even joke about that! You know what he does to my heart!"

Maddy dodged easily and then returned to Mark's side, laughing.

"You and your heart. You know he likes you deep down. He wouldn't have approved the event otherwise!"

Mark looked confused for a moment.

".. what event?"

This time it was Maddy's turn to retaliate. She flicked at Mark's ear as they came around the corner. Lucas and Skye turned to see Mark grab his stinging ear with an offended yelp.

"_Ow_."

"Oh, come on, I barely touched you." Maddy turned away from Mark and looked across the room at the others. Her face lit up as she saw them. "Oh! Skye!"

"Hey .. Maddy."

The younger girl wasted no time with pointless salutations. Instead, she made a beeline straight for the desk, not even noticing the scattered patches of water on the Lab floor. The determination in her step scared even Lucas. Maddy's eyes shone with excitement as she stopped in front of them and smiled at Skye.

"Hey! So have you-"

"Reynolds? Do you copy?"

Maddy stopped abruptly mid-sentence and turned to look at Mark, narrowly missing the look of panic that swept across Skye's face. Her fiancé was casting apologetic glances around the Lab while endeavouring to silence his handheld radio. After a moment of fumbling with the knob, he retreated hastily outside to answer his commanding officer.

"Reynolds here. What is it, Sergeant? Over."

Maddy smiled and shook her head at Skye before following him out.

"I'll be right back."

Skye attempted to release her trapped breath as quietly as she could and then turned to Lucas.

"Let's go. They'll be waiting."

He frowned.

"But don't you want to talk to Maddy? I can wait."

Skye smiled and shook her head.

"I can talk to Maddy any time. Besides, who knows how long she's going to be out there! Better to get this done."

Lucas shrugged.

"Okay."

As he stepped towards the door after the others, Skye turned in the other direction.

"Let's go out the back. Don't want to disturb them."

".. ah."

They wandered outside and began making their way towards the left guard tower. The sky, though still refusing to show any hint of blue, had managed to cease fire yet again after its recent explosion. The ground was soggy and puddles were everywhere, but the houses were no longer being threatened by the water. Outside the colony gates was another story. The valley just beyond the main plateau was still completely underwater. No one could get in or out of the colony, save by boat (and those were in short supply). Despite the inconvenience, it was quite a sight, and the soldiers stationed at the guard towers had a better view of it than anywhere else in Terra Nova.

Lucas glanced at Skye as they walked. She'd been uncharacteristically silent lately. Something was up. He shook off his usual cryptic manner in favour of a more direct approach.

"What's been going on with you? You suddenly seem awkward with everybody."

The blunt question drew Skye abruptly out of her thoughts and she frowned up at him.

"No I don't."

Lucas watched her for a moment before returning his eyes to the gravel path.

"Right. Then why are we going around the long way to avoid Maddy? And why are you suddenly having trouble talking to me? And while we're on the subject, what was going on with Irving the other day?"

Skye shook her head and smiled patiently at him.

"You know why we're avoiding Maddy."

He didn't seem to hear her, and after a moment of silence, she added,

"And I don't know what you're talking about. I'm talking to you just fine. And Silas is Silas. Your guess is as good as mine."

She waited for a reply that never came. He was silent for so long she began to wonder if he'd wandered off somewhere in his head. He'd tired of the conversation and retreated to a world of swirling calculations*. Finally, he smiled.

"You never were a good liar."

The damp gravel crunched as Skye stopped walking and stared up at him.

"Yes I was. I am!"

"Are you?"

There was a hint of challenge in the pointed question. Skye remained silent, sensing a trap. When Lucas turned away from her and started walking again, she kept pace, fighting nervously with the leather band on her wrist. He appeared perfectly content to drop the conversation, but the silence rapidly became unbearable for Skye. Finally, she blurted out in a pained voice,

"Maddy .. has asked me to be one of her .. bridesmaids."

"So that's what has you spooked."

She heard rather than saw the smile on his face.

"But that's a good thing .. isn't it?"

"Yeah yeah, good .. I guess. Just .. unexpected."

Lucas stopped and studied her.

"Why? I thought you saw her all the time."

"Oh, I do .. sort of." Skye had walked a few steps in front of him. Now she hugged her cold arms around herself and wandered back. "I just thought she'd want her own friends."

Lucas scoffed.

"You've met Maddy, right? When have you ever seen her with 'friends'?"

Skye paused.

"Come to think of it .."

"You haven't. Because she doesn't have any."

"But I know next to nothing about being a bridesmaid. I'm the _worst_ possible choice."

"You don't need to convince me." Lucas choked his laugh back as her eyes hardened. "C'mon, is it really that complicated?"

Skye shrugged.

"I dunno. I think you have to help prepare stuff and organise things and .." She shrugged helplessly again. "I don't know!"

"Well, you know more than me."

"I haven't said yes yet. I said I'd think about it."

Lucas began walking again and Skye wandered alongside.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you should do it. If I know Maddy at all, she probably has everything organised already. She just needs someone to carry her flowers for her."

Skye glanced sideways at him in confusion.

"I don't know how weddings work." As Skye laughed, Lucas added, "Plus, maybe now she'll talk to you about these things instead of me."

Skye scoffed as they reached the ladder under the guard tower and turned to face him before climbing up.

"One last question."

Lucas raised his eyebrows in response. Skye's eyes twinkled a little.

"Why did you choose evil genius as a career choice when you could've become a counsellor and told people how to live their lives ALL the time?"

Lucas nodded and smiled slightly.

"Very amusing." He nudged her toward the wooden rungs with the back of his hand. "Now get up there before I start explaining how to climb a ladder."

* * *

Dunham tapped the top of the out-of-order cannon impatiently as they emerged from the floor in front of him.

"Bout time. What, did you stop to have a nap on the way, Tate?"

Skye shook her head at Dunham.

"Nope. I did have an unexpected shower though."

Her superior studied her soaked uniform severely and clucked like a mother hen.

"You better go and change or you'll catch cold."

"And get caught again on the way back?" Skye laughed. "I'll dry. I'm drying already."

"Not fast enough." They turned to look at Lucas as he finished wiping the back of his hand on his shirt, then exchanged a glance as he came to lay a hand on the cannon.

"Not feeling well, are you?"

Dunham stepped back so he could slide in beside it. Lucas was a physicist by definition, not an engineer, but during his year and a half back in the colony, Malcolm had managed to teach him a fair bit about the inner workings of machines. Lucas was a quick study.

"Let's just get this off .." He pried open the casing gently and examined the internal mechanisms. "What's making you sick?"

Skye and Dunham exchanged another glance. Lucas used a certain voice when talking to inanimate objects, especially malfunctioning ones. It was as if he considered all machines to be his long-lost children. Skye hid a smile as he stroked the side of the cannon absentmindedly.

"What have we here .. ?"

Her attention slid away from him as the large gate beside them began to open up. She looked up at Dunham in surprise.

"What-"

"Ore." He explained, before she finished her question. "We're running dangerously low on reserves. They've been given permission to go to the quarry."

"But .. the water .."

Skye looked around at the area beyond the colony. From the guard tower, she had a good view of the surroundings, but there wasn't much to see at the moment. The sandy dirt in the gate area normally sloped downhill and faded into a grassy valley. Now, however, it hit water only metres from the fence. The entire valley was now a large lake, and though she could make out several islands, she couldn't quite make out the end of it. The water stretched out as far as the eye could see. With the temporary relieve in rain, the water had gone down slightly - the ground near the gate was all churned-up mud and it was beginning to stink - but the soil was too wet to accept much more water, and waiting for their new lake to evaporate was a painfully slow process. They needed the meteoric ore to run their equipment now that they were getting no more shipments from the future. The scientists had found a way to refine the ore to create chips and cores to replace the dying old ones, but the makeshift devices were struggling to keep pace with the powerful technology and tended to burn out quickly. If they didn't restock their supplies soon, the situation could become critical. They needed the ore to help run the medical equipment in the Infirmary, amongst other things. The quarry wasn't far away, and had an abundance of ore for the taking, but getting there under the current circumstances was going to be a challenge of its own.

Skye and Dunham watched curiously as a few colonists and a couple of Sixers struggled to push a makeshift raft on wheels through the gate. They slipped and wobbled as the slimy mud squelched under their feet. The two soldiers above winced sympathetically with their battle .. but made no move to assist them. A short while later, the raft had reached the edge of the water. It was only a few metres away, but to look at the raft-bearers, it might as well have been miles. They were all panting and red in the face, leaning heavily on the raft and trying to catch their breath.

"Ah! There you are, you little .."

Lucas' voice faded out again as the ore-gatherers collected themselves. The raft was lifted off the makeshift trolley and lowered into the water. It appeared to be sturdy enough. Two men jumped onto it and steadied themselves. It remained afloat. A Sixer woman climbed aboard. It still didn't sink. The remaining two began to push the raft out into the open water.

Skye wasn't sure how they planned on bringing the ore back with them across the lake. The raft was decent-sized, but with five people on it, there wouldn't be much room for anything else, and meteoric ore was heavy. She supposed they were planning on sending it back and forth in relay fashion.

Lucas closed the casing and stood up, eyeing his work with satisfaction as the two sailors gave a last push and leaped aboard the raft. It wobbled dramatically, but they somehow managed to steady it and began gliding smoothly through the dirty water towards the middle of the lake.

"Done. Charge it up now, Dunham."

The soldier complied, and they both nodded in approval at each other as the cannon hummed and proceeded to behave perfectly. They switched off the cannon and joined Skye at the railing just as the raft reached the middle of the lake.

Lucas leaned over the edge to study the raft with a frown.

"What's this all about?"

"Ore." Skye muttered vaguely. Was she imagining it, or was something moving under the surface of the water?

The raft came to an abrupt halt in its course and sat bobbing up and down in the same spot. The colonists on board were evidently having some sort of discussion. They stared around in bewilderment as the raft suddenly slid forward for a second before stopping again. Two thin ridges of water appeared behind the raft and melted into the surface, leaving behind no trace of their existence. Skye's stomach suddenly dropped.

"Something's wrong."

Both of her companions frowned at the hint of alarm in her voice, but before they could question her, the answer unfolded in front of them.

The raft dipped on one side, then the other. A series of clearly defined ripples shot out from around it. The people on board barely had time to steady themselves from the first bump when another onslaught began. They dropped to the floor of the raft and hung on. By now, even from a distance, the onlookers could make out the panic on their faces. They were only frightened for a moment. The raft dipped this way and that, again and again, and suddenly appeared to be sucked down below the water's surface. There was a gasp or two from above as the raft vanished. The pull of the current had dragged a few unlucky colonists down as well. The remaining men had been thrown from the raft and now began to swim desperately back towards the gates. Dunham finally recovered his wits and swung around with the intention of helping them to shore, but Skye grabbed his arm. Looking back, he saw that one of the men had disappeared. The other, having heard an odd sound behind him, turned to glance over his shoulder. At the same time, he threw his hands up in the air and thrashed at some invisible enemy beneath him. The terrified scream reached their ears a second before he joined his fellows.

They watched in horror as he slid beneath the surface and the murky liquid converged above his head.

_*(if you didn't hear that to the tune of Pure Imagination, you're doing it wrong)_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

By the time they reached the ground, the lake had covered up all evidence of a tragedy. It sat, still and silent, with only the faintest ripple emerging every now and then. Lucas and Skye stared out across the deceptively calm water in silence until Dunham's voice and the scratch of his radio cut into their thoughts.

"This is Corporal Dunham. We have a situation at the front gate. Code 02012142."

Just as he finished the last number, a loud alarm began blaring out from one side of the colony to the other. Skye winced at the noise and yelled in Dunham's direction.

"I HAVEN'T HEARD OF ANY CODES BEING USED BEFORE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?"

"THERE'S ONLY A FEW." Dunham replied in between blasts. "THAT ONE IS THE EMERGENCY CODE .. THAT ALSO TRIGGERS THE SIRENS. The sequence is .. IT'S THE DAY TAYLOR FIRST CAME THROUGH THE PORTAL."

Lucas glanced back at the lake - in reality, none of them were taking their eyes off it for very long - and frowned.

"Why scare everyone? Not like there's much to be done now anyway."

"IT'S PROTOCOL."

Lucas smiled faintly and shook his head, turning to see Jim and a few other soldiers rush over.

"You people and your protocol."

"What's going on, Dunham?"

"There, sir." Dunham pointed to the lake and explained the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. When he was finished, Jim motioned for everyone to take a few steps toward him. As the gate was closing, he instructed a nearby soldier to cut the siren and turned back to the three witnesses gravely.

"Did you know them? We'll have to let their families know."

Lucas and Skye both began to shake their heads slowly, but Skye paused.

"Oh! One of them was Tristan. John Tristan, I think. They live on the west side."

"The other two colonists were Smith and Lani. The rest were Sixers. They work - worked .. at the quarry. I'll tell their families, sir." Dunham volunteered solemnly.

Jim smiled at him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, but I think this should come from me. And Dunham, they were all members of the colony, Sixers or not."

Dunham reddened and looked at the ground.

"Yes sir."

"It's alright." Jim released his shoulder and looked at Lucas and Skye. "So no one knew who the Sixers were?"

Skye shook her head.

"I'd seen them around, but I didn't know their names."

"I never bothered to learn their names."

Skye looked up into the grey expanse above her. A couple of Pterosaurs could be made out if she squinted hard enough. They looked tiny from the ground, but Skye knew better. Sometimes life seemed so safe hidden behind the large colony fence that it was easy to forget there could be dangerous monsters out there around every corner. For today, at least, that security had been shattered in a lesson some would never forget. She turned back to Jim, mirroring his sober demeanour.

"This is about to be a horrible day for a lot of people."

He sighed and nodded, looking back out onto the peaceful lake again as a soft voice behind him spoke up.

"People die all the time. They'll come through alright."

The other members of the group stared at the speaker. Finally, Jim raised an eyebrow and answered him with a dry smile.

"Lucas, I expect that was your attempt at a comforting speech. If I were you, I'd keep practicing."

Lucas' eyes hardened. He had been trying to be pragmatic. To remind everyone that bad things happened all the time and life went on. Now Jim had made him look stupid. His pride had been hurt, and so he continued, somewhat defensively.

"They're just humans. They're here, they die. You can't change that fact; no one can! When it's time to go .."

He shrugged and folded his arms, letting his sentence trail off. He knew this was a battle he couldn't win, but now his main concern was getting through with his shield of indifference still intact.

"Okay .." Jim stared at him seriously. "What if it wasn't those people? What if it was Deborah? Or me?!"

Lucas shrugged again, apparently unmoved by either prospect. Jim smiled to himself. He knew Lucas well enough by now not to take the boy's apparent heartlessness personally.

"The boy".

The Commander shook his head slightly, resisting the sudden urge to laugh at himself. Lucas was almost 27 .. but in a lot of ways, he still seemed much younger. He studied Lucas for a moment. The boy was still watching him defiantly. "The boy." Jim rolled his eyes to the sky. Was this something he'd inherited from Taylor when he took over the Command, or was he just getting old? He returned his gaze to Lucas and opened his mouth to continue his challenge when another voice interrupted him, jumping in angrily. Jim knew Lucas well, but someone evidently hadn't gotten the memo.

"How can you stand there and act like that?! These are peoples' families! These are members of our colony! You-"

The tirade was halted by Jim's raised hand.

"Hush, Gareth. We all deal with tragedies in our own ways."

The young soldier subsided, looking embarrassed, but not altogether repentant. He glared at Lucas, who managed a faint smile back. Gareth held the gaze for as long as he could manage, and then turned back to Jim respectfully. Truth be told, the sight of their former enemy still sent a thrill of horror right through the centre of his chest.

Jim took a slow breath and then nodded resolutely. He'd psyched himself up for long enough. Time to get this over with. He looked around at the little group, which now included a few curious colonists hovering on the outskirts of the circle.

"I better go break the news. Until further notice, no one gets in or out. Understand?"

As the tower guards nodded their comprehension, Lucas stepped forward.

"I know this is a bad time, but we're finalising the prototype for the flood shields. We should be able to start putting them in people's houses later today."

Jim nodded.

"Well, that's one piece of good news anyway. Bring the prototype to the Command Centre. I'll meet you there and then gather the colony."

With that, Jim and Lucas headed off in opposite directions. The remainder of the group watched them go and then began to disperse. Only Gareth caught Lucas' anxious backward glance toward the gate. As the physicist rapidly adjusted his gaze to meet the younger man's, Gareth sucked in a sharp breath which seemed to stick uncomfortably at the back of his throat. With a ghost of a smile, Lucas disappeared around a corner, leaving Gareth busy adjusting the position of his boots in the mud while trying to shakily calm the violent beating of his heart.

* * *

Half an hour later, Jim looked out over the sea of faces and sighed inwardly. There weren't many of them he didn't know by now. After all, besides the occasional baby, the colony wasn't getting any bigger. After completing the awful task of informing the families - not made any easier by the fact that he only had a vague idea of what had actually occurred - he had returned to the Command Centre, where the colonists were already starting to gather. Many families seemed to have chosen and sent a representative already, with more on the way. That appeared to be the custom in Terra Nova, as he had learned soon after arriving. Not everyone wanted to stand around in the sun, not that all the 1,000-or-so colonists would fit comfortably in the space directly in front of the Command Centre anyway, so they had taken to sending one or two people to go and listen, storing up the news to repeat when they returned home. He stared out over the railing at the restless crowd, and they stared back up at him. They seemed to know why they were there already. Word spread fast. He shouldn't be surprised anymore. Still, every time he witnessed the large group of people seemingly materialise in front of the Command Centre, he had to brace himself. Secretly, he hated addressing large crowds, and calming an anxious mob with his words instead of his hands wasn't what he'd been trained for. Luckily, he was better at it than he realised.

He took another deep breath and began.

"For those of you who haven't heard, a tragedy occurred this morning just outside the front gates."

Was that too melodramatic? He continued on to explain as well as he could what had happened and praise the scavengers for their noble sacrifice, as he believed was the custom in these situations. The fallen were, after all, on an errand that was for the good of the colony.

".. and we will remember their sacrifice with the greatest respect and gratitude. Having said that, the gate will remain closed until further notice. No one is to breach the perimeter. Anyone who does will be brought straight to me. We don't know what the floodwaters might have carried in with them." A few horrified gasps later, and he realised he'd said the wrong thing. Panic was beginning to sweep through the crowd like wildfire. Jim held up his hands. "Please don't panic. You will be safe so long as you stay inside the fences. That's what they're there for."

A shrill voice called out from below.

"What do you think took those men?!"

Jim stifled another sigh. Hadn't he just said he didn't know? He resisted the temptation to lean casually on the railing as he replied. He had to look strong, serious, or the fickle colonists would never believe a word he said.

"We don't know exactly." He hesitated, glancing back at Malcolm, who was standing with Lucas inside the Command Centre. They had been showing Jim the flood shield prototype a few minutes earlier and had remained there to demonstrate the shield to the colony when they were summoned. Jim had thought a demonstration of the device might calm some nerves and take the terrified colonists' minds off the events of the morning. Now, he realised it would take more than a little convincing for them to let the subject go.

"Malcolm?" He muttered. "Care to make a hypothesis?"

The head researcher opened his mouth to object, but Jim looked so much like a trapped cow in a slaughterhouse that he relented. Approaching the railing beside the Commander, Malcolm looked down at the crowd and cleared his throat a couple of times.

"There are .. There are many potential predators that might have been responsible for the deaths of our men this morning .. and women!" He added hurriedly. "We don't yet understand the full capabilities of the local fauna, but I think it's unlikely that it was a Carnotaur or an Acceraptor, as they don't exhibit the natural features we'd expect to see in a creature of aquatic residence. We're currently working out some issues with the thermal imaging, and then hopefully we'll be able to tell you more."

He glanced at Jim, who studied the crowd. Malcolm's little speech seemed to have calmed them somewhat. In fact, many of the people seemed to have stopped listening entirely and were now quietly staring at the sky. Jim smiled and patted Malcolm's shoulder.

"Thanks. Now maybe you can show them the .. device."

"Flood shield." Malcolm corrected.

"Right."

With that, Jim took a step back and allowed the two scientists to take the stage. They demonstrated how the shield turned on and off, explaining how it connected to the houses' power supplies and sat directly in front of the door. People would be trapped in their houses until the water receded, but the shield would provide protection from a much higher flood than the mere sandbags. When the demonstration ended, followed by a wave of appreciative claps from the crowd, Jim stepped forward again.

"Our team will be working to have these set up in your houses by the end of the week. Please be patient. There are only so many of them." Satisfied with the response from the crowd, Jim moved on to his final topic .. one he'd been putting off. "Now, as you all know, the team that set out this morning was going to gather more meteoric ore. Our store is growing low, and with this new development, it doesn't look like we'll be able to restock it for a little while. All I ask is that you conserve power. Only use what is absolutely necessary. We'll do the same. The flood defences and necessary systems will be prioritised. The security system will be recalibrated to maximise efficiency and extra guards will be posted to fill gaps in security. Extra generators and unnecessary medical equipment will be turned off for further notice."

After another brief pause to assess the general feeling of his audience, Jim finished.

"Again, there is no reason for concern. Help your neighbours, conserve power, let our people do their jobs. We're all going to get through this together."

Jim smiled at the crowd, glad his hated task was finally over. The group of colonists in front of him seemed pleasantly accepting of the situation. The panic was gone from most of their faces, and they seemed ready to get back to their normal routines. Jim was about to dismiss them and mentally pat himself on the back when a loud, clear question from below made him pause.

"Why don't you tell them what's really going on?"

The voice was followed by a tall body, pressing through the crowd and emerging at the front. The man looked up at Jim with a hint of defiance. The Commander recognised him as a former Sixer, one of the youngest from Mira's original group. Jim examined him from the vantage point of the Command Centre railing, abandoning his thoughts of retreat for the moment. Dark-haired and dark-eyed, dressed in simple handmade clothes, with tanned skin and a smattering of rough stubble evident on his face, the man certainly looked the part of a Sixer. What was his name? Jim almost rolled his eyes at himself. As Commander, it was part of his job to remember peoples' names .. but unfortunately, it was part of his job he wasn't very good at. Thankfully, someone else unknowingly came to his rescue.

"Harlon." Lucas muttered in distaste from just behind his right shoulder.

Jim gave no indication that he had even heard him, but maintained eye contact with the young rebel. He couldn't have been more than 30, but the man had a strange sort of calm leadership about him. He was the type to inspire confidence wherever he went .. whether he deserved it or not, Jim surmised.

Harlon seemed to be waiting for him to say something. The Sixer was standing below him with arms folded, staring up in silence. Jim frowned. If he dismissed the colonists now, would they go? If they stayed after he told them to go, the damage to his position could be permanent. However, if he let them stay and listen to what this young man had to say, would he be creating doubts in their minds? He made a decision swiftly.

"Thank you all for your attention. Harlon, I'll talk to you inside if you have some concerns you'd like to bring up with me. I'm willing to listen to anything that might be worrying you." He raised his eyes to scan the listening crowd. "That goes for anyone here. Colony dismissed."

To Jim's relief, most of the gathered colonists shrugged and began to disperse. Harlon remained in the exact same position for a minute or two. Not even his expression altered. If he was surprised that the Commander knew his name, he didn't show it. If he was annoyed at being dismissed so easily, you wouldn't have known it. When the majority of the people had disappeared, Jim gestured for the Sixer to come up and turned away to walk inside. A few moments later, Harlon appeared.

Jim had gotten as far as his desk. He sensed the Sixer's arrival more than he heard it, for Harlon didn't make a sound. He turned to see the younger man watching him in silence from the doorway. Jim folded his arms and waited. Eventually, Harlon broke the silence.

"Nice office."

"I'm afraid I can't take the credit for it."

"Hm."

The disapproval was evident in his voice, but disapproval of what exactly? Jim didn't have the slightest idea what the problem was, and he was getting tired of waiting for the answer.

"Harlon, I do have work to do, you know. If you have something to say, say it."

The Sixer began almost immediately.

"You're wrong." He said simply. "Those flood shields won't hold the water back for long. There's a lot more on the way."

Jim was frowning thoughtfully.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Leave the colony, just for a short while." Ignoring the various noises coming from the back of the room where Malcolm and Lucas were listening, Harlon continued. "We have to temporarily relocate to higher ground. There's more rain on the way, and a recent expedition team of mine discovered that Snakehead Falls is dangerously close to an overflow. Staying with the colony is risking disaster. Better to pack up and run for a while."

"And desert Terra Nova?"

"If that's what it takes."

Jim shook his head slowly and rubbed his chin.

"You say you led a team out recently? How many men?"

"Four."

"Who authorised this?"

Harlon tilted his head up a little.

"No one authorised it. We're allowed to leave if we want to."

Jim studied him for a moment.

"Well, I want you to stay inside the gates for the next little while. We can't have people thinking it's safe and following you out there. Plus .." He added, mostly to himself. ".. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"And you think you'll be safe in here? This little colony, these tiny gates? There are things - creatures out there that could crush these walls like leaves, and you think you'll be safe .."

Jim stiffened at the tone. The young man in front of him was staring at him with the hint of a sneer on his face. He heard Malcolm clear his throat loudly from a few metres away and glanced at him. The head researcher was preparing to interrupt. Jim turned back to Harlon and began to speak before Malcolm found the chance.

"I'm well aware there are dangers out there, but in here we are as protected as we can be. I'm under no impression that we're invincible, but it's our best chance of survival. If you want to take your chances out there, you go right ahead, but we are staying here." He threw out a short laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Though I have a feeling we'll all be in the same boat before long."

Harlon wasn't laughing.

"The buildings are just buildings. You should be looking after the people."

Jim stared at him evenly.

"I am looking after the people, but the people are best-off within these gates, even if they end up getting a bit wet .. though goodness knows we all hope the flood shields are protection enough. The people are safest in the colony."

"The people ARE the colony!" Harlon burst out. "And if you won't protect them, maybe someone else should."

Jim held up a hand to still the sudden movement from the corner and lowered his voice, looking the young Sixer in the eye gravely.

"I appreciate your concern. Your desire to look after your people is admirable. Really." as Harlon rolled his eyes "But we are staying here. In my opinion, this is the best chance we have of getting through this."

"I'm sorry, were you under the impression I gave a snort about your opinion?"

Jim blinked, a little taken-aback. When he opened his mouth to speak again, he was interrupted by a couple of indignant voices from either side of Harlon.

"Hey, wait a minute-"

"Say that again, Tree Rat."

Harlon didn't look at them, but when he spoke again, his words were addressed more to Malcolm and Lucas than to the man in front of him.

"What does he know?! He's commander for a year and thinks he can decide peoples' fates now? Don't you know who he is?! He's not even in the military - never has been! He's an ordinary cop from Chicago. He's no leader!"

"Harlon. That's enough."

Mira's level voice came from the doorway. She had remained quietly at the back of the crowd throughout the announcements and had followed the rebel up after the rest of the colonists dispersed. Thanks to the heated conversation near the desk, she had remained unnoticed .. until now.

Harlon turned savagely on his former leader.

"Why should I listen to you?! You lost your authority when you turned yourself in to these-"

"Careful."

"You made the decision-"

"And as I remember, the votes were almost unanimous." Mira bristled.

Harlon looked her in the eye sullenly.

"Almost is not an absolute."

"If you feel so strongly about it, why didn't you leave with Carter?"

"Carter's a loner. Contrary to the beliefs of most, I actually care about the well-being of the colony and its people."

Jim frowned and began to relax a little, leaning against the desk behind him.

"Then why did you leave with the Sixers in the first place?"

Harlon turned back to him.

"It wasn't safe for us anymore. Any opposition and Taylor would've had our heads. You have your faults, but I don't believe you'd have us killed just for disagreeing with you. I trust you .."

"I'm touched."

".. but not enough."

Jim smiled a little and nodded.

"So it would seem."

After standing in silence for several seconds, Harlon shook his head, seemingly defeated for the moment.

"You don't understand the risk you're taking .. but you'll see."

"Harlon, you are dismissed."

The Sixer held Jim's gaze for a few moments and turned silently, casting a disgruntled glance at Mira on the way past. As a result, Mira followed him outside. When she was satisfied that he had fully gone, she returned to stand before the Commander. Jim raised an eyebrow at her and walked around behind his desk.

"Firecracker that one. Thank you for the support."

As Mira hesitated, Jim frowned.

"What is it?"

"Harlon may be a bit of a loose cannon, but don't underestimate him. He can be quiet and calculating when he wants to be, and he's well-respected."

Jim sat down in his chair, staring up at his former enemy in amusement.

"Are you warning me to be wary of the younger lion, Mira?"

"I'm just saying watch your back. I wouldn't want him as an enemy."

Jim snorted.

"From what I just saw, I'm afraid that ship has sailed."

Mira made no reply.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Throughout that night, the rain pounded down. Jim stirred uneasily in his bed, so much so that eventually his wife gave up altogether and sat up in the darkness.

"Jim, what is it?"

"Hm?"

Elisabeth almost laughed.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh. No." Jim still sounded distracted. "It's nothing."

He rubbed his wife's shoulder gently and she lay down again with a sigh.

"Then please .. get some sleep."

"Hm."

"Jim!"

"Alright, alright, I'll go to sleep."

"Good!"

Even so, Jim tossed and turned for most of the night, long after Elisabeth had drifted off. He slept fitfully, having flashes of chaotic dreams featuring water and spinning lights and the billowing white sheets above him. Eventually, he found himself unable to distinguish between his dreams and reality and was just on the point of deciding to get up when the drumming above finally slowed to a stop. The rain let up about an hour before sunrise and Jim finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next day was fairly ordinary, really. After the excitement of the last few, the colonists suddenly felt very tired and at a loss for what to do with themselves. More rain was expected, so it didn't seem worthwhile to try and do anything too dramatic, and with the water still slushing around their feet, it seemed to be too much of an effort to do anything at all. The market people were the only ones who seemed unbothered by the whole circumstance, and the markets went up just as usual. As afternoon drew on, the colonists began to venture out of their quiet homes and brave the overcast day. The markets began to buzz with the sounds of voices again, though very few people actually bought anything. It was enough to talk to their neighbours and be surrounded by the cheerful colours of the stalls. As the good weather continued on throughout the day and the ground began to dry, the colonists' spirits lifted. After all, Market Festival was the day after tomorrow and, rain or shine, it must be celebrated. When night fell and the next morning dawned with still no sign of a downpour, life appeared to be very much brighter.

* * *

"Alright .. let's see what's wrong with you .."

Josh Shannon finished readying the sample he was working on and began tapping buttons on the machine in front of him. In a few hours, it'd tell him everything there was to know about his patient. The wonders of Terra Novan technology.

"Wow, you almost look like you know what you're doing!"

He spun around to face Tasha, almost upsetting his work in the process.

"Oh, hi! Whaaaaaatt are you doing here?"

"Applying for the Terra Nova Games."

When Josh frowned, Tasha swallowed a laugh and held up a small box of herbs. Josh smiled at the floor and shook his head at himself.

".. ah. Ask a stupid question .."

Tasha smiled reassuringly at him.

"It wasn't a stupid question."

As he turned back to the table, she stepped forward and raised her eyebrows.

"What are you working on?"

He immediately spun around and blocked his workspace with his body.

"Nothing .. Nothing important."

Tasha looked sympathetic.

"Stool sample?"

After focusing his attention on the machine for a moment, Josh pressed a last button and turned back to her, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Got it in one."

"Anyone I know?"

Her eyes twinkled as he grew increasingly more uncomfortable.

"Oh, I .. I can't .. patient confidentiality .."

"I know."

".. ah."

Josh shifted his attention to the ceiling as the whirring of the machine behind him suddenly became noticeably louder. Tasha watched him calmly, seemingly unbothered by the awkwardness of the situation. When he finally looked back at her, the smile on her face grew a touch wider.

"So .. ?"

"Soooo .."

Josh glanced around the room skittishly and then pasted a grin on his face, gesturing to the box that was still resting in her hand.

".. herbs!"

* * *

Lucas stretched as he approached the Lab. Thus far, he hadn't been allowed to help with the shield installations - they involved working within the security grid of the colony, and apparently the powers-that-be didn't trust him. It gave him more time to work on his own projects, however, and his updated and improved model of the old generators was coming along nicely. What with the recent shortage of fuel, the colony was looking for ways to conserve ore wherever they could. As a result, he had been tasked with the generators. He had wanted the sonic cannons, but they had been given to someone who knew very little about them. He smiled to himself as he remembered that he'd been allowed to work on one anyway, because the unfortunate researcher had been sick on the day of the disaster. Still, now he was back to his generators. He sighed as he entered the building. They were no cannons, but they were better than nothing. And they were definitely better than his last job. Maybe he could still work his way up to the cannons.

As he made his way to his desk, he came across Maddy and another co-worker in the hallway. They appeared to be in the middle of a very serious discussion, but as he approached, the latter member of the party abandoned the conversation with a nod. As she walked away, Maddy turned to him, smiling as usual.

"Oh, hey, Lucas!"

Lucas eyed her severely.

"Doing lots of work, I see. Wait till Malcolm hears you've been standing around. He'll find you something to do."

Maddy laughed.

"We were just planning for the-"

"Don't .. say it."

".. wedding."

Lucas groaned loudly and Maddy's smile gave way to a faint scowl.

"Oh, come on! You haven't stopped complaining since the moment I first told you!"

"I congratulated you!"

Maddy snorted.

"As I recall, the first words out of your mouth were, "Married?! Aren't you like 15?!"

"Yeah, and then-"

"And _then_ you said, "Well, congratulations, I guess." It was very heartwarming."

"Well, I thought it was."

Maddy scoffed.

"You would."

"Playing nice today, children?"

Malcolm swept in abruptly with an armful of random devices. At the sight of him, Maddy's pleasant demeanour automatically returned. As she helped him to deposit them in a nearby box, she paused.

"Always. Did you spend half the night repairing these .. again?"

Malcolm stood up straight.

"I may have spent .. some time on them."

Maddy shook her head at her boss.

"You really should take better care of yourself." She tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully. Malcolm watched her for a moment and then smiled kindly at her.

"I'm fine, really. I'm-"

"You need a wife."

Lucas, standing nearby, nearly spat the water he was attempting to swallow back into his cup. He looked up to meet the curious glances of the other two and couldn't resist adding his own contribution to the conversation.

"Not a bad idea, Maddy. You two could have a double wedding!"

Maddy grinned as Malcolm shot Lucas a withering look.

"You should both be more respectful of your chief science officer. You never know what interesting things I could find for you to do around here .."

"Oh, come on, we were just teasing." Maddy put a hand on his arm affectionately. "And you're more like an uncle to me anyway."

Malcolm tried to remain severe, but couldn't hold back a small smile. Maddy had a way of drawing people out of themselves. He turned to his other apprentice with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you have to say on the matter? I don't suppose I'm like an uncle to you too."

Lucas threw his cup into a nearby sink and put his hands in his pockets, shaking his head seriously.

"No, of course not."

"I should think not." Malcolm picked up his box of gadgets and looked expectantly from one apprentice to the other. "Well? Don't we have work to do?"

Lucas nodded and continued his trek to his desk, which happened to lead him right by Malcolm. As he passed him, he slapped his shoulder, almost causing the head researcher to lose his grip on the box.

"Yes we do .. Uncle."

Maddy turned away hurriedly to conceal her snort of laughter, and Lucas was out of reach before Malcolm could steady his cargo. He glared at both of his employees' retreating backs before snapping after them irritatedly.

"Oh, very funny!"

* * *

Dunham swished his boot around half-heartedly in the mud puddle he was rapidly creating. With a final glance around the last remaining untamed area inside the colony, he turned back to his companion glumly.

"Well, I guess we'll have to cancel training for today."

"Why?"

Mira stared expressionlessly at him. Dunham stared back for a moment, and then shifted, looking uncomfortable.

"The ground still has at least 4 inches of water on it in places."

He said it like it was obvious, but Mira continued to stare.

"And? We might as well call off survival training now if they can't cope with a bit of water."

As of very recently, she had begun taking a small group of children into the little patch of wilderness on the right side of the colony to teach them how to survive in the wild, what to eat, what not to eat, how to make a fire, how to tell north from south, etc. It was a job she absolutely despised, but the Commander had thought it was time she did something other than hunting, and the children did need the teaching. Their own schoolteacher didn't know the first thing about surviving in the wild - (neither did many of their parents. Truth be told, the adults could have used the training just as much as the children) - and their last teacher had been unmatched in her survival knowledge .. until now. Dunham had been assigned to help her. He loved children, and Mira had a sneaking suspicion that he enjoyed the lessons almost as much as they did.

At her last words, Dunham nodded, brightening up all of a sudden.

"Alright. I'll let them know it's still on then!"

The second he turned away, Mira looked up at the tree canopy above and blinked. She could've gotten out of it. Why had she opened her mouth?

* * *

"Reynolds! How goes the war?"

Mark smiled at Josh's back, but kept his thoughts to himself. His future brother-in-law wouldn't appreciate knowing just how much he sounded like his father. He took on a more serious manner.

"The floodgates are holding steady. No sign of enemy combatants yet."

Josh paused and looked over his shoulder with a grin.

"I meant the wedding preparations."

"Oh." Mark nodded slowly as Josh rolled his eyes and turned back to the bench with a laugh.

"Well, the .. uh .. that's actually what I came to talk to you about."

Josh didn't turn around.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Mark swallowed and shifted his feet. Why was he so nervous?! "You see .. Well, I don't know much about weddings, and Maddy wants things done a certain way .. I needed someone to keep me on track."

"Hm?"

"So I asked Curran to be my groomsman .."

Josh laughed quietly.

"Lucky Curran."

"Yeah." Mark ran a hand through his hair. Was it hot in here? He didn't even remember sweating this much when he'd asked Maddy to marry him! "But Curran's pretty nervous about the whole thing. And-"

"No wonder! Poor guy." Josh interrupted. "With my sister in charge? I wouldn't do it if you begged me!"

".. o-oh .." Mark stared helplessly at Josh's back for a few seconds. "Well, Curran's .. he's going to do it. But he needs help. I need help."

Mark groaned inwardly and rubbed his face with his hands. He was not explaining himself well. Josh finally put his scanner down and turned around.

"Don't worry about it, Mark. You'll be fine. My sister knows what she wants, believe me. She'll let you know."

"Oh." Mark repeated, and watched Josh for a moment, trying to gauge his state of mind. Josh smiled back. Mark opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Josh finally took pity on him.

"You came here to say something? Was that it?"

"No." Mark huffed in frustration and made up his mind. "I was wondering if you-"

"Like I said, I don't envy Curran." Josh interrupted. "What a nightmare that would be!"

Mark frowned in confusion, so Josh kindly explained himself.

"Groomsman. Like I said, wouldn't do it if you begged me. Sorry, what were you saying?"

He raised his eyebrows and Mark thought he caught a glint of humour in his future brother-in-law's eyes before it disappeared. He took a deep breath.

"Josh, will you please be my-"

"Yikes, I didn't really mean for you to beg, Mark. There is such a thing as self-respect, y'know."

Josh blew the hair off his forehead and hurriedly turned back around to his bench. Mark stared at him, shocked into silence for a moment. Was Josh playing with him? Finally, he stammered.

"Look, I didn't .. I mean, what I mean is-"

"Alright, alright!" Josh burst out laughing and turned back to Mark. "I'll do it .. as a favour to my new brother-in-law."

He pointed to poor Mark with a knowing look.

"But only because you talked me into it!"

Several lines appeared in Mark's forehead as he stared in bewilderment at Josh.

"You'll be my other groomsman?"

Josh nodded soberly.

"Yes. If you insist."

Mark attempted a smile and clapped his hands together.

"Well, great! I'll see you .. see you later then."

"Sure thing, Reynolds."

Mark nodded happily and retreated out the door, still looking rather perplexed. His future brother-in-law only managed to hold himself together for a few more seconds before collapsing onto his bench in fits of laughter.

* * *

"And these blue berries here. Who can tell me what they're called?"

The children looked at each other, but didn't answer. Mira gave Dunham another thunderous look. At his exaggerated thumbs-up, Mira rolled her eyes and turned back to the group of youngsters.

"Anybody?"

Finally, a voice popped up from the side.

"They're harco berries, but you can't eat them."

Mira nodded briefly at Zoe.

"And why is that?"

"Cause the make your face blow up!" Another child jumped in, and the group laughed. Mira, looking less than impressed, continued.

"They are poisonous. Yes."

"But if you boil them with taroca root, they're actually kind of edible." A whispered voice came from Mira's left and she turned.

"Who is teaching this class, Leah? You or me?"

Leah didn't look at all abashed at having been overheard.

"You, Mira."

"Yes. So zip it."

When Mira turned away, Leah threw a sideways grin at Zoe.

"I know that, because-"

"Leah." Mira stared at her young pupil until even Dunham was feeling uncomfortable. Finally, Mira spoke. "Shall I continue?"

"Yes, Mira."

This time, Leah sounded suitably remorseful, and Mira continued. Sienna watched her mother in silence. Her serious expression showed no sign of the laughter she felt inside at seeing her friend and her mother interact. They came to blows so often that it had become a joke amongst the younger ones. Mira and Leah had known one another for years, had been through more terrifying shared experiences than most of the colonists could imagine, and would always share a certain amount of affection for each other .. but boy, could they fire each other up.

"And this one .." her mother was saying ".. how can you tell when this one is ripe?"

A few students put their hands up. Mira pointed to a younger girl.

"Yes?"

"My feet awe wet."

The girl shuffled miserably in her soggy shoes. Mira stared at her, seemingly unmoved.

"Wrong. Anyone else?"

The girl's lip began to tremble as Mira turned away, and she immediately looked the girl in the eye.

"Cry and you go home."

The little girl sucked a shaky breath in and stood up a little straighter. The ghost of a smile took shape on Mira's face, but it was enough for the younger girl. Justly rewarded, she sunk her feet deeper into the soggy mud and listened intently to the next thing Mira said as her teacher continued the lesson.

Sienna shook her head almost imperceptibly. She still didn't understand why the other children were so awe-struck by her mother, but it never failed to amuse her. She realised Mira was looking at her a moment later.

"Sienna? Are you with us?"

"Sorry." Sienna smiled sheepishly as a few other children laughed. Mira pointed to a nearby tree.

"This moss. Can you eat it?"

Sienna narrowed her eyes and studied it for a moment. Finally, she looked her mother in the eye and replied.

"You can eat it safely .. but I don't think it'd taste very good."

Mira nodded.

"Good. But you'll eat anything if you get hungry enough."

"Even worms!" Leah hissed, making Sienna grimace. "I ate worms once, when we had no food. I-"

"Leah!" Mira was staring at the girl in exasperation. "One more peep out of you and I'll send you home."

"Yes, Mira."

Mira turned to Dunham with a weary look.

"Dunham, show them the leaves on that bush over there."

Dunham nodded seriously.

"Yes, Mira."

He had imitated Leah perfectly, and the children burst out laughing. Mira, however, looked less than amused.

"Dunham, do I have to send you home as well?"

The children immediately quieted and stared in surprise. Dunham shook his head soberly.

"No, Mira."

"Then get on with it." She growled. He turned and walked toward the bush, wisely knowing when his joke was over.

"Come on, guys. Over here. See these leaves?"

The children gathered around him expectantly, while Mira watched from a few metres away. As Dunham leaned into the bush to pull off some of the inner leaves, a large locust flew out of the bushes right towards his face. Dunham screeched and propelled himself backwards into a decently-sized puddle while the locust flew off into the trees. As the children realised what had happened, the sound of muffled laughter echoed around the little group. Dunham stared up at Mira reproachfully.

"You knew that was there!"

Mira allowed herself a small smile in reply, then addressed the class.

"Since it appears Corporal Dunham is busy .. shall we move on to our tracking exercise?"

* * *

"Whatcha up to?"

Josh jumped at his best friend's unexpected voice behind him. Skye appeared on his right and looked over his shoulder.

"Ribbons. More wedding preparations?"

Josh grimaced and put down the blue spool.

"Not quite."

Skye shook her head as he picked up another one and examined it thoughtfully.

"Can't believe she's getting married. Time flies, huh? Must be weird for you."

Josh grinned and glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Well, you know what they say. 'This is the frontier - you gotta grow up quick!'"

Skye laughed.

"Is that what they say?" She sniffed and looked around as one of the market's many tempting smells wafted close by. "Hey, I'm starving. Want to get something to eat?"

Josh shrugged and turned back to the market stall. The sun was starting to go down and he still hadn't bought the ribbon his mother ordered. The nurses always dressed the Infirmary up a little for Market Festival. He frowned as he picked up another spool. Surely they could've reused the ribbon from the year before. Skye watched him with a grin. Only Josh would look so serious while choosing ribbon. She took a step back and folded her arms.

"So, the Market Festival is tomorrow night. You wanna go like last year? It was pretty fun, right?"

"Oh." Josh turned away from the stall as though he was caught in a slow motion field. "Actually, I .. I was .."

The comfortable smile froze on Skye's face.

".. what? What is it?"

"I was thinking of asking .. Tasha."

Skye's stomach lurched involuntarily and she found she'd lost her appetite.

"Tasha."

As Skye repeated his last word, Josh sighed inwardly. He'd known this day was coming. He'd rehearsed it to himself countless times. He still wasn't ready. He glanced at the market woman behind him, who was watching the interaction with great interest. Josh put down the spool with a smile at her before taking Skye's elbow gently and steering her away from the stall.

"Look, we need to talk."

Skye glanced around at the passing customers. They were probably looking to grab some last-minute supplies before the markets closed for the night.

".. apparently."

"Skye." Josh directed her to a nearby bench and sat down, gesturing for her to do the same. "The thing is .."

Skye waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she took a deep breath and stared at him.

"What?"

The sharp word hit him harder than expected. He never quarrelled with Skye. They always got along. How could he do this to her?

"Skye .." He began again helplessly. This time, Skye helped him out, though her tone was less than friendly.

"It's Kara again, isn't it?"

Josh shrugged and shook his head.

"Yes and no." He saw the confusion in Skye's face and was forced to continue. "I still can't see you without thinking of her, and that's not fair to either one of us, but .."

Skye almost looked relieved. She leaned forward with a smile and put a hand on Josh's arm.

"I don't mind!"

"Skye .." Josh looked away from her and into the crowd, seeming thoroughly disheartened with the whole conversation. ".. the point is that you _should_ mind. If you don't now, you will one day."

"No, I won't. I know you loved her. I'm okay with it. Really! I .. I won't .."

Skye trailed off as she realised her pleas weren't making the slightest difference to Josh's demeanour. He seemed at though he was just waiting for her to finish so he could contradict her again. When they'd sat in silence for a few moments, he looked over and put a hand on her shoulder, staring seriously into her face.

"You're my best friend. You know that, right?"

Skye nodded, dumbfounded.

"And I'd do anything for you."

He didn't think it was possible for her to look any more miserable, but her face fell even further.

"Then why?"

Josh smiled gently.

"You deserve better than this. We're best friends. I hope we always will be."

All the life seemed to have drained out of Skye. She stared at him expressionlessly.

".. but."

"But." Josh squeezed her shoulder and then dropped his hand. "There's no future for us. You'll see it one day."

She studied his face for a moment and shrugged shakily.

".. and that's it."

Josh shook his head and dropped his eyes, staring at his hands in front of him.

"I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but .."

".. but you have to."

He glanced up at her quickly. She had barely moved, but something in her voice told him she was about to break. He tried to smile at her.

"I had to. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Skye stood so suddenly that Josh almost jumped. "I have to be home for dinner."

"Skye-"

"Goodbye."

The last word was thrown hurriedly over her shoulder as she bolted into the dusk. By the time Josh was on his feet, Skye had disappeared amongst the crowd.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Hold it! Hold it steady!"

"It's too late! GET BACK!"

The wooden boards creaked and groaned loudly as they finally gave way, throwing up a large wave in their wake. A small boat was picked up and cast headlong into a nearby structure of wood and tarp. Several men jumped clear of the wreckage in time, but one unlucky comrade was swept under. No one noticed. A huge, dark shadow emerged from the depths and looked over the terrified faces of the surviving men. They appeared even paler than usual in the moonlight. After a few seconds, one man broke ranks and fled back toward the centrepiece of the compound - a small, ramshackle wooden building surrounded by odd-looking containers. Paying little heed to the guards at the door, he burst in.

"The dock's gone! All of it! We have to get out of here while we still can!"

"No one's going anywhere."

The calm voice seemed to steady his shaken nerves a little. The soaked soldier waited for a moment as he studied the woman in front of him. Well, studied her back anyway. She was facing the opposite direction, her frame illuminated in the blue glow of the translucent screens that covered the entire back wall of the small room. After regaining control of his breathing, he stepped forward tentatively.

"Doctor .. is it working?"

"Almost."

She still didn't look at him. Her eyes never left her screens and yet they were always moving, ducking from one gleaming picture to another like she was absorbing their electricity through the light. After another few seconds, the soldier tired of waiting.

"That spinosaur is destroying everything in its path. The men are trying to hold it off, but they won't be able to stop it. Please, we have to-"

"Yes!"

The blonde woman stepped back suddenly, staring intently at a flickering line on the bottom-right screen. She was barely moving now, her entire attention was focused on that tiny object.

Half a second later, blackness descended on the room. All of the screens shut off except one. The only noise that could be heard in the camp was the roaring and crashing of the angry beast near the docks. The only light in the room was the reflection off the little flashing line on the screen. The woman stared at it hungrily, muttering to herself.

"Yes, good, yes .."

More crashing came from outside the shack. The soldier beside her felt the panic swell up in him again. Was this woman insane after all? He had questioned her sanity from the moment he'd first laid eyes on her (after he finished questioning his own, that is - not many visitors simply materialised in the heart of the desert), but she had always proved herself to be trustworthy. Now, he was not so sure. He stepped closer to her. He had to make her understand the danger they were in!

"The power's out! The weapons are dead. This is not good news! We have to go!"

No response. She didn't seem to be able to hear him at all. Forget her. If she wanted to die in the middle of nowhere at the dead of night, let her. He made for the door, only to find it blocked by the two sentries.

"Stay where you are."

The same calm voice again. Evidently she had heard him.

"But-"

"I said .. wait."

The tone of command was unmistakable. With another helpless glance at the guards, he darted towards her, nearly catching his foot on the rug in the darkness and falling headlong at her feet.

"If we stay here, we're as good as dead." He attempted to sound as reasonable as possible. "I know you think you can fix it in time, but you can't. We're _out_ of time."

How could he make her understand?! She was about to be crushed by an angry monster, and she was taking him down with her! He opened his mouth to try a more direct approach, but before he could say a word, he found he had her full attention.

The doctor's dark eyes flashed as she turned on him.

"Question me again, Crawson, and you'll be leaving here first after all. Understand?"

He began to shake his head in dissent, but the resulting catastrophe was diverted by the steady hum of the power returning. Within seconds, Crawson was left alone in the abandoned room. He followed the scientist outside to find her and her two guards staring up into the sky. Frowning, he came to stand beside her, attempting to ignore the view of the docks he had from his present position. Following her gaze, he was able to make out a massive satellite dish above the shack. It was rotating slowly and a pale blue glow was spreading up the limbs to the centre. As he watched, the centre suddenly exploded with blue light, flashed twice, and fell back to a dim glow. The woman beside him leaned sideways and glanced back through the doorway, releasing a satisfied grunt at the sight of the functioning screens.

Finally, she looked up at Crawson.

"What did I tell you? We're fully operational again."

A series of bright flashes and cracks resounded from the direction of the docks as the remaining men began to fight back. For the first time that night, the soldier smiled.

"Never should have doubted you."

* * *

Elisabeth awoke with an unexplainable sense that something wasn't right. She listened. It wasn't raining. Jim was snoring softly beside her. The white sheets were billowing gently above, and she couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Her eyes began to flicker shut, but a nagging feeling prevented her from relaxing. She opened her eyes again and stared at the dark ceiling. She wanted nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep, but years of motherhood had taught her to trust her instincts. With an enormous effort, she dragged herself out of bed and crept softly towards the doorway. Jim muttered something to himself and rolled over. With a last glance at her sleeping husband, Elisabeth slipped out of the room.

She made for the girls' room first, realising with another stab of grief that it would soon be Zoe's room. Just Zoe's. Such moments came quite often these days, but each realisation somehow succeeded in being just as painful as the last. She poked her head in. Both girls were sleeping peacefully. Elisabeth suppressed the urge to walk in and kiss their tousled heads, instead turning from the room and beginning the quick journey to her son's bedroom. A few steps in, she stopped, her heartbeat quickening.

There was a dark shadow by the window.

Half a second later, she wanted to laugh at herself. Josh was sitting against the wall and leaning on his knees, staring out the window at the sky. He didn't move as she approached him.

"Josh? You gave me a fright, sitting in the dark like that!"

She kept her voice soft, so as not to startle him more than necessary, but he didn't even seem surprised to hear her. Truth be told, he'd heard her exit her own room and had watched in silence as she crept across the living area a few minutes before. He turned to her with an attempt at a smile before staring back out the window.

"Sorry."

Elisabeth's feeling of unease returned. She moved to sit beside him on the sofa.

"Josh? Is everything okay?"

"Not really."

She could make out tears in his eyes and frowned. This wasn't like him. Elisabeth patted the cushion beside her and he slowly pulled himself up from the floor and took his seat on the sofa. Elisabeth let him settle for a moment before commencing her gentle interrogation.

"What's wrong?"

Josh shrugged, seeing no use in delaying the inevitable. His mother would know soon enough.

"It's Skye. She'll probably never speak to me again."

"Why?" Elisabeth's frown deepened. "What happened?"

Josh shrugged again, looking defeated.

"I told her .." He choked as his throat unexpectedly tightened. "I told her I didn't want to go to the Market Festival with her."

Elisabeth studied her son's face. Josh and Skye had been the best of friends for years. Both households were close. She'd had several conversations with Deborah about the possibility of their families eventually connecting through those two. Honestly, they had thought it was only a matter of time. What could have happened .. ?

"We all need space sometimes .." She began carefully. "Maybe next time-"

"There won't _be_ a next time." Josh cut her off shakily. "Ever."

Elisabeth ran a hand through his hair. It would need another trim soon. He always complained that it grew too fast. She smiled to herself. Jim often complained of the same thing, for that matter. Her smile faded as she saw those tears in her son's eyes again. He was holding himself together valiantly, but something had obviously gone horribly wrong.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" She raised her eyebrows a little as he met her gaze. "Hm?"

Josh took a deep breath and relayed the previous afternoon's conversation as best he could remember it. When he was finished, Elisabeth nodded thoughtfully.

"I see."

Josh had returned to his previous position of staring out the window, but now he looked back at his mother quickly.

"I'm sorry. I know you thought .."

Elisabeth shook her head.

"Josh .. sweetie, you know I care about Skye .."

Josh looked down at his hands and nodded, but Elisabeth told hold of his chin gently and tilted his head back up to look at her.

".. but you are my son. Whatever you decide, whoever you choose to spend your life with, I will always be on your side."

As a watery smile formed on her son's face, she found she had to blink back her own tears. She'd never been this emotional before. What was happening to her lately? She shook her head impatiently and laughed at them both. As Josh joined in, she pulled him close and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so proud of you. You know that, right?"

A sheepish smile spread across Josh's face as he returned the hug.

"Yeah, Mom .. I know."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"But it'd really help-"

"I said no, Malcolm. He's lucky he's allowed to be a free member of the colony at all. He should be in the brig."

The chief science officer rolled his eyes in frustration. This was the logical next step, but of course, once again, no one was listening.

"Jim, come on .."

"I'm serious." Jim finally looked up at Malcolm grimly. "He made his own choices. He'll have to live with them now. He'll always have restraints the rest of the colony doesn't have. He just has to learn to deal with it."

"I'm not asking for him! He doesn't even know. I'm asking because it would help me out no end."

"Malcolm-"

"Jim!" Malcolm echoed, equally exasperated. "I can't get to all of the buildings in the colony before the next downpour hits. Lucas helped design the flood shields, he's the best person to help me put them in."

"But the installation requires access to the security grid."

When Malcolm hesitated, Jim smiled a little.

"Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but I do read your memos."

"You can give him temporary access." Malcolm persisted.

"No. Too risky."

"As risky as half of the colony going under?!"

"I said no."

"Jim, you have to make a decision. Either you risk giving our resident ex-con grid access for a little while, or you risk the entirety of Terra Nova being destroyed because you didn't allow it."

Jim ignored the obvious exaggeration and brought up a different point.

"Can't someone else do it?! You have assistants!"

"None that know the system already, and it'd take too long to train them. Our window is rapidly closing."

When Jim didn't answer, Malcolm frowned.

"I'm sorry I'm not a good enough engineer to create functional replicas of myself to do the job."

As Jim snorted, Malcolm pushed his advantage.

"And you were the one who convinced me to take him on in the first place."

"I'm sorry." Jim had turned back to his task once again. "He seems to have made the best of it and I'm sure he's a help to you .. but with half of our security system already offline, I don't want to take any chances."

"In the past year, he hasn't given you any reason to distrust him. Why start now?"

"Because I'm the Commander and it's my job to." Jim snapped. He halted abruptly at his friend's taken-aback expression. "I'm sorry."

"You're starting to sound a lot like Taylor." Malcolm commented severely.

Jim ignored him and continued. After a moment, he found Malcolm leaning on the table beside him and watching him calmly.

".. what?"

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Not really."

Jim attempted to go back to his work, but with Malcolm persistently hanging over him, he couldn't concentrate. Finally, he threw his Plex down on the desk in frustration.

"Malcolm! You are dismissed!"

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

Malcolm re-adjusted himself on the desk and stared stubbornly at Jim. The Commander stared back, exasperated.

"Malcolm!"

"Jim! What _is_ it?!"

After returning Malcolm's indignant stare for a few moments, Jim suddenly broke into laughter. Shaking his head, he looked back up at Malcolm.

"This is normally Elisabeth's job, you know."

"Well, I'm no Elisabeth, but I'll do what I can." Malcolm commented dryly. "Now .."

After another few seconds of silence, Jim relented.

"Fine. You can have him." He picked up his Plex again. "But when we're under siege once again and chaos reigns, I'll be presenting you to the colony as the one at fault."

".. deal." Malcolm jumped off the desk and headed for the door, turning finally to address the Commander. "And Jim, if you do need to talk .."

Jim waved him away dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, I know where to find you."

* * *

As it turned out, at the same moment Malcolm was exiting the Command Room, Lucas had reached the top of the external stairs and was making his way into the building.

"Ah, Lucas!" Malcolm caught sight of his apprentice and raised his eyebrows. "Just the person we were discussing."

"Oh?"

Lucas stopped in the centre of the room and stared suspiciously as Malcolm strolled over. The chief researcher shook his head in vague impatience.

"Oh, don't look like that, man. I was trying to get approval for you to help me with the shield installations."

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" At his supervisor's benevolent nod, he frowned. "And let me guess .. he said no."

Before Malcolm could reply, Lucas shook his head and muttered bitterly.

"I figured as much. These people, they'll never-"

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you." Malcolm warned him sternly. "For your information, he agreed with me. You're in."

"Oh."

As Lucas was digesting this information, a voice filtered in to them from outside, cutting through Malcolm's next comment.

"Well, don't look too excited."

_"You need to listen. There's more to this story than you've been allowed to hear. Unless your leadership is truthful with you, you won't be able to make smart decisions for your own families."_

After exchanging a glance with his apprentice, Malcolm walked to one of the large windows and peered out, muttering to himself as he turned back to the room.

"Oh boy."

Before Malcolm could be questioned, another voice interrupted.

"What's going on?"

Jim was emerging from the back room, already frowning as he listened to the speaker outside. His gaze settled on Malcolm as the voice continued its tirade.

"It's .."

".. Harlon." Malcolm finished for him, sounding less than impressed.

Jim nodded dubiously.

"What does he think he's playing at?" He shook his head as he began to make his way outside.

"Come on. Let's get this over with."

Moving quickly toward the entrance, he slowed and emerged from the Command Centre as calmly as if he'd been summoned to open an event (as, in fact, he was preparing to do later that afternoon). Harlon was standing at the railing, already gathering a small crowd below him.

_"Jim Shannon has done his best, and even I can respect him for that. But what's the point of kidding ourselves any longer?! He isn't a leader! He doesn't have it in him to make the hard choices!"_

At this, he abruptly noticed Jim a few metres away, leaning on the railing as if he didn't have a care in the world. He hesitated for a moment, but Jim gestured to him lazily.

"Don't mind me. Please, continue."

Harlon scowled, but turned back to his audience and raised his voice again.

_"You probably only know me as a Sixer. You may even see me as the enemy. But I'm not your enemy. I don't see us as 'Sixers' or 'colonists'. We're PEOPLE. We all care about our families. We all want what's best for our loved ones. We all want to keep our children safe."_ He paused for a moment. _"Well, THEY'RE NOT SAFE."_

Lucas and Malcolm had joined Jim at the railing by this time, and the crowd below kept glancing curiously at the little group. Harlon tried not to let the fact that they were there get to him, but even without uttering a word, they were detracting from what he was saying. He swallowed his annoyance and soldiered on.

_"You people think this is a democracy? You think you have a say? Look at them. Jim Shannon has got the entire council in his pocket. This isn't a democracy - IT'S A DICTATORSHIP."_

A couple of half-hearted cheers went up from below, but despite his determination to keep going, the Sixer was running out of steam. The people barely seemed to care what he was saying. They were simply enjoying the show. A specific group who were busy decorating the market place for the night's festivities were ignoring him completely! Stupid sheep, they followed anyone who fed them, even if the food would be gone the next day. But this wasn't about their food or even their livelihoods - this was about their LIVES. He HAD to make them understand! He threw himself into one last attempt to get through to them.

_"You have to listen to me. More rain is coming. Those flood shields won't be able to hold all of it back. Your leadership doesn't CARE about you. They'll abandon you at the first sign of trouble, just like the late Commander Taylor did. You remember him, right? Stocky guy, scruffy beard? Where is he now?! Fading into oblivion in the wilderness! You can't-"_

"My father isn't dead!" Lucas shot out, unable to contain himself any longer.

Jim put a hand on his shoulder.

"An excellent point .. for another debate."

Harlon looked over at Lucas and the corners of his mouth curled up a little. When he turned back to the gathering crowd and looked as though he intended to keep going, Jim stepped forward.

"Are you finished? Got it all out of your system? Good! Now get back to work."

This drew a few laughs from the crowd as the people began to wander off. Harlon glared at Jim.

"The people will hear the truth, one way or another."

Jim clenched his jaw and stepped forward until he was directly in front of the taller man.

"You're on thin ice, Harlon. I've met your type before, trying to stir up trouble wherever you go. You don't care about the people-"

"You're wrong."

"I don't think so." Jim was barely restraining his own temper. "But if you don't get down those steps and out of my sight in the next 3 seconds, my men will happily escort you back to the irrigation shed."

The Sixer shook his head, but decided to back down. His mission was complete for the moment. All that remained to be seen was how the people would respond later, when events turned out exactly as he had predicted. He held Jim's gaze stubbornly for a couple of seconds.

"I'm going."

"You do that."

With a trace of a smile, Harlon turned and trotted down the steps.

* * *

"Nothing, Sergeant."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. No sign of life."

"Very well, Corporal. Over and out."

Reilly clipped her handheld radio back to her belt and sighed. With the thermal imaging finally back up and running, she had immediately given the order to scan the valley in front of her, but it had returned nothing. Evidently whatever had taken their men was long gone, and the valley was giving up none of its secrets. Reilly shook her head and leaned on the railing of the guard tower, overlooking the valley. Thanks to the lack of rain, the temporary lake outside the colony had mostly drained, leaving dead grass and mud behind to fester on its ever-growing bank. The stench of mud was inescapable. It seemed to penetrate every inch of the colony, indoors and out. Reilly took a deep breath and scrunched up her nose, more out of habit than anything, since she barely noticed the smell anymore. She stared at the sludge beneath her platform. It would be understandable if she was glad to see the sun drying the ground out. Most people were thrilled .. but Reilly was not one of them. With each inch the water receded, with each negative scan the thermal imaging turned up, the more remote their chances grew of ever solving the mystery.

And there were few things Reilly hated more than an unsolved mystery.

* * *

Harlon watched from the sidelines as the remnants of his crowd wandered away. He watched as Malcolm broke from the little group above and headed hurriedly off somewhere on a mission of his own. He watched as Jim and Lucas continued their own - in all likelihood inconsequential - discussion. When he was satisfied that the crowd had sufficiently dispersed, he ran back up the CC steps to join them.

"Sorry to interrupt."

"Oh, he's back."

Lucas hid a smile as Jim shot him an exasperated look before turning to face Harlon.

"What is it?"

"You." Harlon completely ignored Jim and stared past him at Lucas. "We need to have a talk."

Lucas raised an eyebrow and remained silent, but Jim folded his arms and frowned.

"Why?"

"That's between me and him."

Harlon still hadn't taken his eyes off Lucas. Jim tried not to be irritated further by the fact that the Sixer refused to look at him when he was speaking to him. He spoke in the calmest voice he could summon up.

"I'd like to be there as well, if you don't mind. Can't have you verbally assaulting my people, can I?"

This drew a sarcastic smile out of the Sixer as he finally centred his attention on Jim.

"With all _due respect_ .." He made it sound as though there was very little respect due. ".. I'd like to talk to him alone."

"And with all due respect, I'd like to hear what you have to say."

Harlon glanced at Lucas, who appeared to have no opinion at all on the matter. With a roll of his eyes, he shrugged.

"Very well."

Harlon led them around the side of the Command Centre where they wouldn't be overheard. Lucas and Jim exchanged a glance, but followed him cautiously. When Harlon was satisfied they were alone, he fixed Lucas with a solemn stare and proceeded to get straight to the point.

"Your father is dead."

"You're lying." Lucas immediately countered, sounding as though he had already anticipated the topic of the conversation. "The stupid old man is impossible to kill."

He snorted.

"Believe me, I've tried .. more than once."

As Jim made a disapproving sound in the back of his throat, Harlon shrugged matter-of-factly.

"And yet, he is dead."

"How could you possibly know that?"

The question was logical. The Sixer considered it for a moment. When he spoke again, it was with a touch more respect in his voice.

"When my men and I were out near Snakehead Falls yesterday, we found a body, or what was left of it. It was washed up beside the swollen riverbank at the bottom of the mountain. We believe it belonged to Taylor."

"It could've belonged to anyone."

Lucas attempted to keep his voice steady, but a nagging chill was creeping up inside him. This was leading up to something. He placed his hand casually on the bamboo railing as his head began to spin. Harlon was shaking his own head.

"Ordinarily, I'd agree with you, but my men found something else."

As Harlon reached into his pocket, Jim's eyes flicked back to Lucas. The hand on the railing was growing white. Lucas was holding on as if his life depended on it. Harlon held up a set of ancient tags in front of their eyes. The battered bronze tags swung and shone dully in the sunlight. Lucas shook his head slowly.

"They-"

"They're his. Taken from what was left of the neck. The engravings were a little hard to make out, but it's his code. We checked. Here."

When Lucas made no move to take them, he hung them on the railing.

"I know you cared about him. I'm sorry."

"I didn't care about him."

The statement seemed to have shaken Lucas out of his stupor. The young physicist swayed a little, causing Jim to step closer, but Lucas recovered himself.

"I DON'T care about him, because my father isn't dead! You've made a mistake."

Harlon shrugged.

"What other conclusion could we come to? That Taylor gave them to someone? That they attacked him and stole them?" He glanced from Lucas to Jim. "You knew him best. What seems more likely to you?"

Silence followed. Finally, Lucas slumped down against the Command Centre wall and stared unblinkingly at the tags in front of him. He didn't feel the wind gently ruffle his hair. He didn't notice the tears tumble out of his glistening eyes and roll down his cheeks. His father wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. Nothing could kill him. Not even Lucas could kill him. Jim watched him with a concerned frown for a little while before turning back to Harlon.

"Come with me for a minute. I want to talk to you."

Harlon nodded obligingly.

"Lead the way."

With a backward glance at Lucas, who was still slumped like a rag doll against the side of the CC, Jim walked toward the steps. When he was satisfied with the distance - far enough away not to be overhead, but still within sight of Lucas - he turned to Harlon in a low voice.

"Where did you find the body?"

"Who's to say you'll even believe me if I tell you?"

"I've believed you so far. Where is it?"

"About 3 klicks west of here on the opposite side of the river. Looked like it'd been there a while. Could've come from anywhere though."

Jim nodded slowly.

"The river's wild and unpredictable." Harlon added pointedly. Jim ignored this.

"I want you to go out and bring the body back. We'll test it to make sure it really is Taylor's. If it is, the old Commander deserves a proper burial and Lucas needs closure. If it's not, we need to know who it was."

Harlon shook his head.

"It's too dangerous. The river's wild and the area is still partially underwater. With more rain to come, it's not going to get any less slippery. I almost lost a man yesterday as it was."

Jim restrained himself from pointing out the fact that this was exactly why he had forbidden anyone from going out there in the first place. Harlon continued.

"I'll give you the coordinates and you can send some men out, but in my opinion, you'd be risking it for nothing."

Jim smiled dryly.

"Who says I give a snort about your opinion?"

Harlon started to glare at him, but his face unexpectedly broke into a reluctant smile.

"Be that as it may, my point still stands. I told you, the river has probably swallowed the remains up by now. If it hasn't yet, the rain soon will."

Jim muttered something under his breath in annoyance, but rapidly came to a decision. Under the circumstances, there really was only one option.

"Then the sooner we go, the better."

Harlon relaxed a little and put his hands out in front of him in a gesture of friendship.

"Tell you what .. I'm more than willing to be reasonable. I'll make you a deal. I'll go out and get it if you'll come with me. Maybe if you see the river for yourself, you'll change your mind about the fate of the colony."

Jim was silent for a moment, assessing his companion. Finally, he nodded curtly.

"Very well. We'll go as soon as possible. Just .. give me a few minutes."

Harlon glanced in Lucas' direction and nodded soberly, turning back to Jim and speaking in a low voice.

"I'll meet you around the side in thirty minutes."

As Harlon descended the stairs, Jim returned to Lucas. The young physicist was still leaning weakly against the Command Centre wall, staring into the void in front of him. Jim studied him for a moment, then plucked the rusty tags off the railing and looked closely at them. They certainly looked like Nathaniel's .. but most security team tags looked very similar. Until they checked the code for themselves, it really could've belonged to anybody.

Lucas' eyes had followed the tags and were now watching as Jim studied them. He had dried up shortly after the initial shock, but he still looked very pale. Jim tried to catch his eye, but the boy's gaze never left the tags in his hand. The Commander sighed and sat down beside Lucas, staring out at the wilderness in silence. After several minutes, Lucas reached for the tags and Jim relinquished them, watching as Lucas turned them over in his hands.

"Do you recognise them?"

Lucas shook his head slightly, but remained focused on the small bronze objects. After a moment, he pushed the right spot and a bright blue holographic image appeared above the tag. Lucas began scrolling through the sparse contents of the drive. None of the photos or music the younger soldiers put on their tags. Just a few lines of information .. but it was enough. Jim felt his heart sink as Lucas dropped his hand lifelessly onto the floorboards.

"They're his."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Take out the trash, Josh. Oh yes, thanks Mom, I love the trash!"

The young doctor-in-training dumped a large bag into the atomic incinerator with a roll of his eyes. It wasn't that long a walk really - out the door, behind the Infirmary and a few paces closer to the outside fence. The whole activity could be completed in less than 3 minutes, but it was a job Josh thoroughly detested. He never stopped to consider that his obvious petty hatred for it was probably the reason why he kept being selected for it in the first place.

He pressed a button on top of the incinerator and sent it humming away softly, taking advantage of the peace and quiet to gather his thoughts. The Infirmary, as per usual, was a madhouse. He took a deep breath of the clean air .. and immediately regretted his decision. The smell of muddy plant decay in the breeze was pungent. He attempted to dramatically expel the air from his lungs and turned to go inside when a noise behind him made him pause. He turned slowly. Was the bush squeaking, or was it just his mud-intoxicated brain playing tricks on him? He took a step forward, but just then the bush rustled, causing him to turn on his heel and bolt for the door. As he laid his hand on the handle, Josh felt the wind tousle his hair again and felt foolish. The wind. Not a slasher. Obviously. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced around carelessly, not looking at all suspicious. When he was satisfied no one had witnessed his odd behaviour, Josh ventured toward the bush again. It froze, making no sudden movements as he crept closer.

As he reached it, he chuckled softly to himself. It was just a bush. After another glance around, Josh rolled his eyes and shook his head. He was scared of a bush. What would his mother think? Thanking his lucky stars that his last few minutes had been unobserved, he turned to head back to the Infirmary. Unbeknownst to Josh, however, he had not gone unobserved. Nor had he gone two steps when another desperate squeak stopped him in his tracks.

Unsure whether to be intrigued or exasperated, Josh walked determinedly back to the offending bush and lifted up the lower branches unceremoniously, expecting to find nothing but mud for his efforts. Mud he did indeed find .. and plenty of it. Luckily for him, that wasn't all he found. There was a small bundle nestled in the mud. Frowning, Josh bent to cautiously examine the dark lump. If his survival training had taught him anything, it was that dark lumps often still had sharp teeth. As he continued to stare at it, the lump squeaked again and a long neck appeared out of it. Josh's heart stopped in its tracks for a moment as he realised he was probably face-to-face with a snake. He hadn't really come across any thus far in Terra Nova, but you never could tell. His fears abated a little as the neck gave way to a fuzzy head, which stared at him curiously. He'd never seen a snake with such a bird-like face. The wide eyes focused on him and the creature squeaked sharply again as it tried to rise. This time, even Josh was able to make out a little body, complete with arms and legs, though one leg was oddly crooked. This was some sort of dinosaur .. hopefully a herbivorous one. He continued to watch as the infant dinosaur fell back into the mud and squeaked pitifully. It couldn't have been any larger than the average baby .. not that Josh had a huge amount of previous experience in that area. But he had seen a few babies while working in the Infirmary, and this certainly matched the profile of one, reptilian though it might be. He watched the black lump try to rise again with an ounce of affection for the little beast. Where had it come from? How had it got here? What was it?! What should he do with it?! In the back of his mind, he figured Malcolm was the best person to go to in matters such as these .. but he couldn't bring himself to leave the pathetic creature just in case something horrible overtook it. He felt somewhat responsible for it now.

Crouching down beside it, Josh reached a hand out to it. The baby snapped at it and Josh withdrew his hand just in time.

"Hold on, you little varmint. I just want to take a closer look at you."

The black face studied him for a moment before the creature fell back to its hopeless squeaking again. Josh squinted at it, attempting to remember Maddy's long-winded explanations of dinosaur types over the dinner table. Long neck, wide eyes, sharp teeth .. long back legs and shorter arms .. and a smattering of feathery fluff under the forearms and on top of the head. Nykoraptor? Whatever it was, it wasn't going anywhere on its own. Josh took a deep breath and reached out his hands to it, picking its body up with one arm and grabbing its face with the other. The little beast tried to snap at him again, but Josh held its mouth firmly shut. He marched back toward the Infirmary door with the squirming muddy black lump in his arms, his white coat saving him from the angry creature's claws, but getting rather soiled in the process. After struggling with the door handle for a few seconds, Josh triumphantly entered the Infirmary.

It was an odd sight that greeted his mother when she turned around.

"I was wondering where you'd .."

Elisabeth trailed off as she focused her attention on Josh properly. The clean, neat, somewhat grumpy young man she'd sent out with the garbage was gone. In his place was a grinning boy in a filthy and ragged lab coat with an ambiguous object in his arms that wouldn't stay still. She would have smiled if she hadn't been so confused.

"Josh .." She laid down her Plexiglass tablet of patient information and began to walk toward him. "What .. happened to you?"

Josh was beaming from ear to ear.

"Mom, look! I found it in the bushes!" He almost lost his grip on the wriggling mass then and had to jump forward in order to re-acquire it.

Elisabeth shook her head in amused dismay. Whenever she got used to the idea that her older two were all grown up, they allowed her to glimpse flashes of the children they'd once been. Right now, her son looked more like 10 than 19. She covered the remainder of the distance between them with a laugh.

"What have you got there?"

"Not sure exactly .. but I think it's hurt." Josh was beginning to pant with the exertion of keeping the small animal under control. "It can't walk .. it was all alone."

Elisabeth frowned at the bundle.

"Can you hold it a little longer? We'll take it next door and put it in a cage so we can get a good look at it."

Josh nodded wearily. Just as his arms began to feel as though they were being pulled off, the baby had calmed down a little. He followed his mother to the Lab, ignoring the curious glances of patients and passers-by on the way. As they entered the Lab building, he suddenly realised how quiet and still the little creature in his arms had become.

"Mom .." He turned to his mother quickly, the panic already rising in his voice. "Is he dead?!"

"Is who dead?!"

Malcolm peered around the corner of a large cage nearby. Raising an eyebrow at his unexpected visitors, he hurried forward.

"What do we have here?"

Josh gave his bundle a little shake, but it didn't respond.

"No, no, come on .." As Malcolm bent to get a better look at the creature, Josh eyed him fearfully. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Well, he's still breathing .." Malcolm frowned and pushed the younger man's hand away from the dinosaur's face. The animal almost immediately made a dive for Malcolm's nose. The chief science officer jumped back. "Definitely not dead!"

He quickly grabbed a nearby cage and deposited it on the table, swinging the door open with a glance at Josh's relieved face.

"Put him in there. We'll take a look at him."

Josh attempted to place the infant dinosaur into the cage gently, but the little beast wouldn't stop clawing his way back toward the warm safety of the lab coat. Josh grappled with him for a minute, but eventually, seeing no help for it, shoved the dinosaur into the cage and slammed the door. His new ward almost immediately began squeaking despairingly again. Josh turned his attention to Malcolm to find the head researcher staring disapprovingly at him. Malcolm shook his head.

"You don't do things half-heartedly, do you? That coat is ruined."

Josh looked down at himself and grinned, but one glance at his mother's face brought him hurriedly back to the subject at hand. He gave Malcolm his full attention.

"So what is it? Nykoraptor?"

Malcolm pulled back from the cage and snorted.

"Nothing so "cool", I'm afraid."

Josh frowned at the patronising tone of voice. His next question came out sounding rather more irritated than he had intended. Luckily, Malcolm interrupted him before he got too far, seemingly oblivious to the part he had played in denting the young man's pride.

"Then what-"

"Ovosaur. Pretty young, I'd say."

"Ovosaur." Josh tried not to sound too disappointed, especially after the head researcher's last comment. "Those idiotic gangly things that are addicted to nickel?"

"Those are the ones!" Malcolm smiled kindly at him. "But don't worry. We'll do some tests on this one and keep him in for observation. It's a great chance to study the growth patterns and behaviours of the species."

He frowned thoughtfully at the Ovosaur.

"Don't like the look of that leg, though."

Josh cast a worried look at his mother, who smiled calmly back at him.

"Don't worry. If anyone can fix him up, Malcolm can. But as for you .." She looked her son up and down for the third time that afternoon. ".. you are coming with me. We need to get you cleaned up."

As Josh began to protest, Elisabeth shushed him. Neither of them noticed Malcolm attempting to hide his smile behind a nearby screen.

"You can come and visit him later. It's .. what's the time, Malcolm?"

"2:28." Malcolm helpfully obliged from his workstation.

"2:28." Elisabeth repeated. "Now If you want to be cleaned up and finished your work in time for the Festival tonight, I suggest you get a move on."

Josh sighed and rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Fiiiiiiiine."

"That's better." His mother smiled heartlessly at him. "I have another three bins for you to empty once you're cleaned up."

Malcolm hid a chuckle as the two Shannons trailed out of the Lab.

* * *

Harlon slid another knife into his belt as he approached the Command Centre. He had slipped unobtrusively through the markets and back to his small shared house without a word to anyone. Most of his housemates were still at work. Everyone else was busy with Festival preparations. Rounding the side of the circular building, he caught sight of three people standing in the shadows under the platform. Harlon frowned in annoyance. He had expected only Jim. The small group turned as he approached them cautiously. The girl shot Jim a disapproving look, muttered a "Good luck." and disappeared around the other side of the building. Jim folded his arms and smiled at Harlon, though the smile was tight and never quite reached his eyes.

"Reilly doesn't quite approve of our mission, but she's willing to hold down the fort here."

Harlon nodded, then jerked his head in Lucas' direction.

"What about him?"

The young physicist had watched him silently up until this point. Now, he simply looked at Jim for the answer to the question. Jim didn't disappoint him.

"He's coming. A third party could come in handy."

Harlon eyed Lucas with suspicion.

"Are you sure you want him with you? He's unpredictable at the best of times. In his current state of mind .."

Jim was unmoved.

"He's coming. Is the gun really necessary?"

Harlon's fingers subconsciously moved to the pistol at his side. He smiled smoothly at the Commander.

"Yes. Never know what dangers one might encounter in the wilderness."

"I wholeheartedly agree." Jim pulled aside his rain jacket just enough for Harlon to catch a glimpse of the concealed weapon inside. "But if it eases your mind, you're not the only one armed."

Harlon nodded graciously, as if conceding a point to an opponent.

Lucas simply watched the interaction in silence, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was the only member of the group without a method of self-defence. Jim glanced around warily.

"You managed to avoid the security feed when you left the colony. How?"

Harlon stared at him.

"If I tell you, you'll have it watched from now on. It'll be useless to us."

"I'm sure you'll find another means of escaping my overbearing rule." Jim commented dryly. "Let's go. The exit."

After studying Lucas for a few seconds, Harlon turned back to Jim.

"Very well." He nodded in the direction of the back-right portion of fence.

"Come."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

A huge thank you to Nick Cunningham, who first suggested the idea of Josh finding a baby dinosaur to me.  
It just so happened to tie in perfectly with some of my other plans for the future of this story!  
He's had a bunch of other good ideas too, some of which I may just use in the future ..  
*eyebrow wiggle*  
.. so stay tuned for that.  
Thanks again, Nick!

\- George DeWhite


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The three trailed along quietly, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of strange activity. They had rolled under a gap behind one of the houses in the abandoned district in order to escape the colony unnoticed. All of the houses in the area were brand new, yet not a single one was inhabited. Meant for the pilgrims of the 11th, they had remained there empty ever since - most completed, some only half. Here and there, the skeletal framework of a building stood, lonely and unfinished. After all, what was the point of completing buildings that no one wanted?

Being the one person without a weapon to carry, Lucas was now burdened with the body bag. The grim task was made all the more unpleasant by the fact that the bag seemed to increase in weight with every step, almost as though there were the beginnings of a body already inside it, slowly taking shape. The horrid reality of the situation caused several of Lucas' frequent nightmares to come back to haunt him, and once he almost dropped the bag in terror - his overstimulated imagination had made it seem as though it moved in his arms of its own accord. By the time they had been walking for 20 minutes, Lucas was trembling so acutely that he often missed his footing and stumbled along the rough track. At a particularly nasty bit of terrain, Jim reached down to take his arm and help him up. Lucas only met his eyes for a moment in response. He was as white as a sheet, and not for the first time, Jim began to question his own decision to bring him along. Not that he would have been able to stop him anyway.

They continued on, following Harlon through the woods, doing their best to keep up with the Sixer's easy travelling pace. Nothing seemed to halt his trajectory, not fallen logs or mud pits or slippery cliff faces. Jim and Lucas never quite asked him to wait, but Jim sensed the Sixer slowed his pace purposefully every once in a while just the same.

Another 10 minutes and the forest cleared a bit, the gaps in foliage offering a rather impressive view of the rocky mountain above them. If anyone had been in the mood for admiring scenery, they might have noticed the odd pattern of the water spraying from the top, almost as though it was being dammed by something. No one paid enough attention to notice, however. They continued on.

The Falls were too far away to hear as of yet and the group was hardly talkative. The closer they got to the River, the louder the silence became. The eerie atmosphere seemed to find its way inside them after a while, sinking in gradually until even Harlon felt vaguely unsettled. The hairs on Jim's arms were beginning to stand on end when a sharp yelp from Lucas broke the silence. The other two jumped violently, their guns already in their hands by the time they turned around. Lucas was standing in the middle of the track shaking like a leaf, the bag on the damp ground a few feet away. He was staring at it with wide eyes, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he attempted to calm himself. After briefly scanning the perimeter, Jim cautiously moved toward the frightened young man.

"Lucas .. what is it?"

Lucas shook his head and bent to retrieve the bag, speaking with a slightly lighter inflection, as if he was attempting to laugh at himself.

"Just .. ah .. dropped the bag."

".. I see." Jim made the mistake of glancing at Harlon, which had the twofold effect of encouraging the Sixer to shoot a doubtful look back, and putting Lucas immediately on the defensive. The latter scowled, hugging the offending bag tightly to himself once again.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

He continued forward, passing Jim without another word. He had told them the truth .. more or less, but he doubted the real reason for his shriek would have inspired much sympathy either. A passing twig had caught the bag without his noticing, causing it to jerk unexpectedly as he walked. The movement had prompted an already-uneasy Lucas to fling the bag away from him as quickly as possible. He glanced around to make sure Jim was close behind. No sense in losing anybody.

After their short intermission, the sound of silence became even more deafening. Every now and then, a distant screech or crack of a twig would break the stillness, but the world was damp and sleepy, and they came across very few living things.

Within minutes, Lucas' skin began to crawl again. His eyes darted from one patch of trees to another, flicking from side to side anxiously. Something was watching them. He was sure of it. Or was it _someone? _Jim suddenly paused to glance back at him, as if he had sensed a change in their circumstances as well. But all was predictably quiet and still, and he soon continued on.

Lucas hugged the wretched bag even closer to himself. Could it be .. his father was watching him? Following them on their pointless errand simply to tickle his warped sense of humour? It was just the sort of thing he would do. He began imagining his father behind every tree, crouching behind every bush. He could almost make out the eyes as he passed them. Judging him, laughing at him .. oh, when would this nightmare be over?! Surely they must be nearing the River now .. !

After a few minutes of jumping every time the wind rustled the nearby leaves and panicking at every unexpected sound, Lucas finally breathed a sigh of relief. The soft humming that had accompanied them for a little while became noticeably louder now. The roaring of the river began to mix with the other sounds of the forest.

They were close.

* * *

"_I_ found it."

Josh appeared behind his sister and looked over her shoulder into the cage. The small dinosaur appeared to be sleeping. Josh gave it a poke to make sure it wasn't dead. He smiled in satisfaction as the Ovosaur's eyes opened and it yawned sleepily.

"So I heard." Maddy remarked, turning to shoot her brother a disapproving look. Instead, she found herself watching him with something akin to nostalgia. Her and Josh had always had their disagreements. When they were little, they used to quarrel over anything and everything, as though it was their favourite pastime. They'd been each other's constant companions for almost 20 years, whether or not they always appreciated the fact. In time, the constant arguing had developed into an ongoing attempt to outwit each other at every turn. Maddy was the obvious favourite in these battles, but Josh could be surprisingly quick when he actually bothered trying. She smiled to herself. She only had a few months left at home. She'd actually miss seeing her brother drag himself out of his room, messy-haired and bleary-eyed, to drop himself at the table across from her looking half-dead. That was always a perfect opportunity to get a point in .. though sometimes he was so out of it that he barely noticed the sarcasm. That took some of the fun out of it. Maddy sighed inwardly. She was ready for her own house, her own life, her own family, but maybe the colonists' way of living in each other's pockets had its benefits after all. The Lab and the Infirmary were very close. She'd still see her brother quite often .. especially if he insisted on keeping up his recent tradition of coming over specifically to make fun of her new projects. She grinned at him, causing him to stare at her suspiciously.

".. what."

"I heard you agreed to be one of Mark's groomsmen."

"Oh, that." Josh turned back to the cage and waved his hand generously. "If he really wanted me that much, how could I refuse?"

Maddy snorted.

"How noble."

"And under the circumstances, it was the least I could do."

"Well, trust you to do the least you could possibly do."

Josh feigned offence for a moment and then turned back to the cage, where the Ovosaur had laid down again. Maddy followed his gaze back to the sleeping baby.

"Malcolm - Dr. Wallace - thinks he can fix the leg."

"Oh, good!" Josh looked more pleased than he had intended and attempted to cover it up by rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ".. good."

Maddy rolled her eyes, but studied his face in anticipation as she offered her next statement.

"He'll have to break the leg first though."

Josh winced dramatically.

"Poor little guy."

"He'll recover." Maddy had full confidence in her supervisor's abilities. "So what are you gonna call him?"

"I dunno." Josh turned to her with a snort. "Ovosaur?"

Maddy shook her head.

"You always had a way with words. Come on, even Zoe's Anky had a name .. or twenty."

"What's the point of naming it if it's probably gonna die?"

"Josh!" Maddy slapped him with the back of her hand. "Don't talk like that in front of him!"

Her brother grinned.

"What, has all your expertise suddenly led you to believe that dinosaurs can understand English?"

Maddy ignored him and resumed her study of the Ovosaur.

"Bob."

"Maddy .."

"Kevin!"

"Maddy, he's a dinosaur. At least give him a cool name."

"Like what?"

"I dunno .. " Josh threw his hands in the air and growled his next words aggressively. ".. _Deathkiller_."

".. seriously?"

Josh shrugged.

"Whatever. Call it Mark."

"I'll call it Josh the Second." Maddy retorted, causing Josh to grin. "Josh, the new and improved."

"I've heard worse names .. but he's only a baby, Maddy. You don't want him to grow up trying to live up to a title like that."

Maddy scoffed.

"Then name him after someone that'll appreciate it. Name him Silas."

Josh laughed and tilted his head at the animal.

"Hmm .. Taylor."

"Or Reilly!"

"Lucas."

"Malcolm."

"Yes?" Maddy's boss appeared behind her at that moment and she jumped. Malcolm smiled briefly at her and narrowed his eyes at the small dinosaur in the cage.

"So this is our new resident, is it? This is a great opportunity to study one up close .."

"You turn him into one of your science experiments and I'll-"

"You'll what, exactly?" Malcolm's attention had turned away from his patient for the moment. "I'm sorry, do you have something to say, Josh?"

".. no."

"Good."

With a last glance at the cage, Malcolm turned away.

"Don't get too attached. This is a wild animal, you know."

With that, he walked away, muttering something about Shannons and their "fondness for adopting strange creatures".

When he was out of earshot, Maddy shot a look at Josh.

"Why do I get the feeling he wasn't just talking about the dinosaurs?"

"What?" Josh frowned in confusion.

"Nothing."

Maddy sighed and turned back to the cage. Finally, she nodded decisively.

"Red."

"Oh, come on! He's black!"

"Well, you think of something then. Unlike some people, I actually have work to do."

Maddy took a few steps away. Her brother continued to stare at the little figure in the cage and didn't seem to notice. Maddy smiled and rolled her eyes as she walked off.

"Red." Josh muttered disdainfully. "We'll think of something that suits you. Don't worry."

As he watched, the small sleeping body shuddered. Even in the brightness of the Lab, the little creature was black as ink. Josh shook his head and laughed at himself. "Ink" was at least as stupid a name as "Red". He'd think of something better.

* * *

Lucas' relief was short-lived. The louder the river grew, the tenser his sore stomach muscles became. Sooner or later, they would break through the trees .. and then, more than likely, he would be confronted with the sight of his father's rotting carcass lying beside the water. Then he would have to help get it into the bag he was currently touching and haul it all the way back through the forest to the colony. His father would be gone for real this time. Not away, not hiding, not avoiding him - GONE. For good. And never to come back. Lucas swallowed tightly as another wave of nausea swept over him. It wasn't possible. His father could survive anything. When had he started caring this much?

"Here." Harlon's voice sounded foreign in the quiet wilderness. "The river narrows sharply here and then grows wider again further down. Just up here is where we found it."

The other two nodded and continued to follow the Sixer. Their footsteps squished and slid on the flattened grass and mud. It appeared that this area had been underwater until very recently. As they approached the tree line, Lucas' boot slipped awkwardly. If it wasn't for Jim's quick grip on his shoulder, he probably would've lost his balance and ended up covered in mud for the remainder of the trip. Jim released his arm and patted his shoulder a couple of times, as if trying to strengthen his spirit in preparation for whatever scene they might encounter when they broke out of the trees. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Lucas appreciated the effort.

The roar of the river now drowned out almost every other sound. There were no more birds, no more screeches or branches breaking. As a result, Lucas was slightly calmer than he had been. He still jumped however when Jim put a hand on his shoulder as they paused at the edge of the forest.

"Let's get this over with. Alright?"

Lucas nodded, the hollow feeling inside him growing with every passing second. After casting a last wary glance around the forest, he followed the others into the open.

They broke out of the trees fairly close to the river. Snakehead made so many sharp twists and turns that they were now on the opposite side of it from the colony without ever having crossed it. Harlon examined the river with a critical eye. Thanks to the lack of rain (and to the Sixer's secret disappointment), Snakehead had receded a noticeable amount since the day before. It had proved to be little help in convincing the Commander of the imminent danger after all.

"It's dropped a lot." Harlon muttered to Jim. "But if it can drop quickly, it can rise even faster. It's balanced on a pinhead, but more heavy rain will tip the scales heavily against us."

Jim nodded slowly.

"Where is the body?"

Harlon frowned in annoyance at the change of topic, but gestured to a sandbank on their right, which was now quite high above the river.

"It _was_ there."

Jim looked in Lucas' direction, but the young physicist didn't appear to have heard them. He was staring at the river absently. Jim turned back to Harlon.

"Are you sure you have the right spot? This area can be confusing."

The Sixer shook his head.

"I know exactly where we are. The body was there."

"Then where is it?!"

Jim looked around in exasperation, as if he expected the corpse to just jump out of the ground in front of him. Harlon shrugged.

"Gone. Probably taken by the river .. or some wild animal."

Jim shook his head. Logically, he had known it was a long shot. The woods were filled with predators of all shapes and sizes, more than happy to partake of a free meal. The riverbank was so unstable that the body could simply have slid off into the water. The sandbank was half-eroded as it was. These facts, however, didn't stop him from wanting to hurl something else into the river.

"We tried." The Sixer spoke matter-of-factly, as if he had performed his duty, but really didn't care one way or another. "Come on, better go before we're missed."

Jim ran a hand through his hair and cast a last critical glance around the area. He was expected to open the Market Festival in less than an hour, and he really couldn't afford to be late. He wasn't a bushman, he reasoned with himself. If Harlon said it wasn't there, it wasn't there. He turned to Lucas, who was still loosely holding onto the body bag.

"I'm sorry."

Lucas didn't respond. Jim waited for a moment and then tried again.

"Lucas-"

"This isn't right." The young physicist suddenly dropped the bag into the wet sand and began to look around slowly. "This isn't right .."

Jim cast a sideways glance at Harlon, who simply shrugged. He hadn't asked to bring Lucas along. As far as he was concerned, this was Jim's problem. Jim turned back to Lucas impatiently.

"Lucas, it's gone. We have to go."

"No .." Lucas was shaking his head slowly. He had a strange look in his eyes that Jim didn't like. "I have to find him .."

"He's not here anymore. He's gone."

"No .. NO." Lucas sounded more determined now. He began searching frantically up and down the riverbank for some sign. "He has to be here."

"Well, he's not." Jim followed the boy along the riverbank a ways. After walking for about 10 metres, Lucas turned and almost catapulted into Jim.

"No, he has to be!"

"Lucas-"

"I have to find him."

"Stop."

Lucas realised at that moment that Jim had a hand near his chest. He shoved it away angrily, but Jim rapidly replaced it.

"Listen to me! Nathaniel is GONE. You're going to have to find a way to accept it."

"No!" Lucas began to move forward again, as if he intended to mow Jim over in the process. The Commander shoved him back a few steps. Lucas stared at him in surprise, his sense of reason overtaking his grief for a moment.

"I can't leave him here."

"He's not here." Jim replied logically. "There's nothing else you can do for him."

Lucas' eyes clouded over with anger again and he charged forward.

"I'm staying!"

"Not on my watch!" Jim shoved him over into the damp sand. "You come back of your own accord, or you come back at gunpoint. Your choice."

Lucas glared up at him, not bothering to rise.

"I'll throw myself into the river."

Jim stared down at him.

"You'll try. Besides, aren't you wet enough?"

Lucas looked down at himself. His elbows were soaked .. along with the entire back half of him. Jim held out a hand.

"Shall we?"

When Lucas just continued to stare at him, Jim sighed wearily.

"I cared about your father too, you know."

"Of course you did." Lucas responded with a large helping of cynicism. "You were his number one lackey."

Jim tilted his head at the soggy young man.

"Are we done here?"

Lucas remained on the ground and shook his head slowly, staring out at the river.

"He can't be dead. I won't let him."

"I guess that settles it then."

Lucas glared at the man above him.

"Don't patronise me."

"Then stop behaving like an infant and get up."

Lucas suddenly found himself feeling very sick of his current position. He accepted Jim's still-outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. As he dusted himself off, Jim glanced at Harlon. The Sixer had retrieved the abandoned body bag and taken a seat on a nearby rock, calmly waiting to be rejoined by the other members of his group. Jim turned back to Lucas, who was now watching him in silence.

"Are we ready to go now, or do I have to drag you home in the bag?"

This drew an indignant snort out of Lucas, but in the end, he sighed reluctantly.

"Let's go."

Jim patted his damp shoulder.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

As they returned to Harlon, the Sixer stood up and thrust the bag at Lucas again, who took it without a word. Jim looked at the sky and squinted.

".. we better hurry."

He looked at Harlon, who returned his gaze for a few heartbeats and then blinked.

"It's 3:30."

"Thank you." Jim nodded resolutely and walked past him back toward the forest. Harlon and Lucas exchanged a look and followed him without a word.

As they turned and headed home, they left Snakehead Falls sitting high above them. At first glance, it looked just as it always had - even the waterfall appeared to be once again functioning as intended. Upon closer inspection, however, a more keen observer might have noticed an unusual addition to the otherwise normal sight. The small group below had barely reached the shelter of the trees before the cliff above them began to shift. A good distance beneath it, under the canopy, the hair on the back of Jim's neck stood up inexplicably. He glanced around, still feeling distinctly uneasy, but seeing nothing that warranted concern. Making sure his gun was handy, he continued on. Far above him, a massive dark shape curled its way around the shoulder of the mountain and out of sight.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The Marketplace swam with lights and colours. The Terra Nova Band had taken over the circular platform in front of the Command Centre and were now using it as a stage. They played on instruments of various descriptions as strings of colonists swung around them in circles, dancing joyously to the exuberant tunes. Several individuals had learned long ago that if one didn't wish to be swept away by the dancers, one best stay well out of reach. Even Tom Boylan had somehow been captured along the way, and was now struggling to catch his breath as his partners on either side whirled him along with them. Mouth-watering smells of various descriptions floated through the air, drawing weary dancers and conversationalists from all areas of the compound to come and sample the special delicacies of the night. Jim had gotten back just in time to address the waiting crowd and open the Festival. This had been hours ago, sunset had come and gone, and the celebrations were now in full swing. Not even the dark threat of ominous clouds hanging overhead could dampen the spirits of the excited colonists. Those who weren't dancing were eating, or talking with their friends on the sidelines, or trying to keep an eye on overexcited children. The night was turning out to be a roaring success. Even the hot and bothered cooks and servers on the stalls seemed to be enjoying themselves. Young, old, Sixer, colonist - almost every face wore a large grin. Almost.

Lucas sat under a white shadecloth and watched the dancing gloomily. Following that afternoon's little adventure, he had gone home and showered, then proceeded to sit in his living room and listen to the distant noises drifting down to him from the front of the colony. Finally, he grew so tired of his own thoughts that he had left his house and wandered toward the markets. He hated crowds with a passion, but sitting alone on his couch was much worse. He had ventured along the outskirts of the activity and had taken a seat as far from the main party as possible, whilst still situating himself close enough to feel involved. When one of the smiling market people had come along and offered him a candied corn, he had reluctantly accepted. He had no desire to eat, but the low growling of his stomach convinced him to try. He took a delicate bite into the corn and focused on the cheerful dancers close by. Even in his current state of mind, he had to suppress a smile. They were awful. Every now and then, one would trip over his own feet and fall, only to be scooped up by his companions and carried off again madly. Lucas leaned back in his bench and waited for the next person to go down. He had decided to ignore the strange emptiness inside of him and distract himself wherever possible. The chaotic festivities were proving quite a useful device under the circumstances.

He took another careful bite as the lines weaved in and out before him. Candied corn was messy if you weren't careful. Abruptly growing tired of the dancers, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the contents, throwing them carelessly onto the table in front of him. He already wore a set of tags around his neck, left over from a time he'd much rather forget, yet somehow he still couldn't bring himself to part with them. These, however, were very different from those. Big bronze clunky things with something akin to Braille punched along the metal.

He stared at the tags, running his finger along the edges, trying to imagine the same two pieces that lay in front of him hanging around his father's neck. Taylor wasn't dead. He couldn't be. It didn't make any sense. The man may be stupid, but he wasn't an idiot.

He shoved the tags back into his pocket and took another bite, feeling slightly happier now that he'd made peace with the situation. His father was still alive, living out there in the jungle somewhere, battling dinosaurs and hunting his own food. The tags had come from the body of some other unfortunate soul, if Harlon was to be believed at all .. though how they had come into his possession was yet another mystery. He shoved the thought aside. There could be any number of logical explanations.

As an unpleasant squeaking noise reached his ears, Lucas glanced around and made out a child sitting on the ground near him. The toddler had yellow juice all over its face, but it appeared to be extremely happy about the whole affair. Lucas hid a smile as the child's mother knelt to pick him up, but immediately let him go again upon seeing his face.

"Nathaniel!" She laughed and shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?!"

The child simply continued eating, but Lucas turned back to his own snack with a gut-wrenching pang of .. what? Regret? Loneliness? Anger? All of the above? Who could tell, but one more glance at the orangey-pink lump in his hand told him that it definitely was not hunger. As he flung the sickening corn into a nearby bin, the dizzying mass in front of him sailed closer again. He was able to peer through the crowd and make out Josh and Tasha in the middle, spinning madly before they were thrown apart to opposite ends of the ring. Josh ended up near him.

"Shannon!"

Josh turned in confusion as he made out his own name over the din. When he met Lucas' gaze, he frowned, but Lucas ignored his obvious displeasure and continued as though they had been friends their whole lives.

"Having fun?" As Josh shook his head dismissively and made to turn away, Lucas frowned and called out after him. "Skye?"

"Sick-"

Josh flung the word hurriedly over his shoulder as he was swept back into the circle again. Lucas watched the colourful wheel dance for another few moments before slipping away.

* * *

"Is that what's been going on?" Deborah's eyes finally lit up in understanding. "I wondered .."

She trailed off, frowning. Elisabeth prodded her gently.

"What is it?"

"Oh .. nothing." Deborah smiled a little and shook her head. "I just wonder why she didn't tell me."

Elisabeth laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't intentional. You know these young people .."

Deborah shrugged.

"I suppose you're right. Skye never really keeps any secrets from me, that's all." She caught the laughter in her friend's eyes and laughed at herself. "Well, not _often._ I suppose I've been spoilt."

"Mhm." Elisabeth laughed with her for a moment, but as Deborah attempted to rub her eyes inconspicuously, a concerned frown took its place. Deborah shook her head and blinked as if the laughter had brought tears to her eyes, then smiled back at Elisabeth affectionately. Ordinarily, she might have gotten away with it, but Elisabeth had a keen eye and knew her friend. She was very well-practiced in the art of hiding pain, but the signs were still there if you knew where to look. Deborah shook her head again and gazed out at the festivities.

"Ah, these children. They keep us on our toes."

"They certainly do!"

Elisabeth paused for a moment and then leaned forward a little, staring seriously at the woman across from her.

"Deborah, are _you_ alright?"

Deborah looked up in surprise.

"Yes. Of course! I mean, I have been a little tired lately, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Really, Elisabeth, I'm just a little tired, that's all. Maybe Skye's mental state has affected me more than I realised. She really has been miserable, you know. She's always respectful - that hasn't changed, but last night, she barely spoke to me over the dinner table and she didn't finish her food. I've never seen her this upset. I was too sick to remember when her father .." Deborah sighed wearily, looking exhausted. "I'm worried about her."

"And you're sure that's all .. ?"

"I'm positive."

Elisabeth studied her until Deborah shook her head with a laugh.

"Stop it. I'm not one of your experiments."

The comment had been lightly put, but Elisabeth sensed an edge to it and decided to let the matter go .. for now.

"Well, if you ever do feel unwell, you know where to find me." As Deborah nodded, Elisabeth shook her head again.

"Poor kid."

Now that she was no longer under Elisabeth's microscope, the anxiety returned to Deborah's face.

"I probably shouldn't have left her. Maybe I should go home and make sure she's alright."

"No, no, let her have some time on her own to get her head around things. It's barely been a day. She'll be fine .. trust me."

Elisabeth smiled as Deborah seemed to relax a little.

"Maybe you're right. I'm still trying to figure out where I stand with her sometimes. She's learned to be so independent over the years. I don't want to step on her toes."

Deborah frowned and bit her lip.

"Still, I want her to know I'm here for her if she needs me."

"She knows. You're a brilliant mother." Elisabeth patted her friend's hand reassuringly. "But she's almost 20. She's an adult. All you can do now is continue to give her opportunities to talk if she wants to .. which is all we can do with Josh at the moment, I might add."

"Ah yes, Josh .." Deborah murmured thoughtfully as she watched the pair break out of the circle, breathless and laughing some distance away. "He doesn't seem too cut up, does he?"

Elisabeth followed her gaze and watched solemnly for a moment before replying. Finally, she spoke quietly.

"He puts on a brave face, but it wasn't a decision he made lightly. He cares a lot about Skye. He didn't want to have to hurt her, but he felt he had no choice."

Deborah turned back to Elisabeth and smiled sincerely.

"I don't hold it against him. He's a good boy, and he does you proud."

"Yes, he does." Elisabeth returned the smile. "Now if you'll excuse the change of subject, I'm starving! Shall we go see what's on offer in the food department?"

Deborah laughed and stood up happily.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

* * *

Skye opened the door wearily on the second knock. She'd been out all day with the security team. She had checked the fences, participated in a weapons drill, cleaned the barracks (though she didn't live there), and an assortment of other things. She had thrown herself whole-heartedly into her work, to her commanding officer's great delight. When she had got home, the last thing she had felt like doing was attending the festival. She was exhausted from the day's work. That was all. That was understandable. She had worked harder than anyone else all day, and she had enough witnesses to testify to the fact. She had been just about to flop tiredly into bed when she heard the soft tap at the door.

Now here was Lucas, standing on her doorstep, awkwardly shifting a small box from his right hand to his left, and then back again. She recognised it as his chess set. Leaning on the doorframe, she sighed.

"Hi. What's up?"

Lucas glanced uneasily around the empty street as the sound of music and laughing drifted to their ears from the marketplace.

"I heard you weren't feeling well. Thought you might .. want to play chess." He finished the sentence in a mumble, as if realising just how ridiculous his logic sounded.

Skye frowned.

"I do have a chess set, you know."

Lucas stared down at the box in his hand for a moment.

"Oh. Yeah."

"You thought I'd want to play chess with you when I wasn't feeling well."

Lucas' discomfort suddenly seemed to melt away at her confused tone, and he looked her in the eye.

"I thought maybe you were avoiding someone."

The truth in his statement caught her off-guard and she simply stared back at him. He raised his eyebrows for a moment and then shook the box, causing it to rattle softly.

"So .. ?"

Skye regained control of her thoughts and shook her head slowly.

"Sorry. Thanks for the offer, but .. I'm really not feeling well."

It was true this time. The combination of her own exhaustion and this conversation was making her head ache.

"Okay." Lucas seemed to take this rejection as happily as if she'd accepted his offer. "I'll see you later then."

".. bye."

Skye watched him pat the doorframe and wander off carelessly down the dimly lit street with a growing frown on her face. He looked so nonchalant, she almost imagined she could hear him whistling softly to himself amongst the market music. He'd never been to her house before; he always waited for her to come to him. She didn't even think he knew where it was, but it would seem that he did after all. As he disappeared around a corner, she shut the door and returned to her room with another sigh.

Life was beginning to feel strange and somewhat monotonous, despite the flood threat. It felt as though they'd been anticipating the rain for ages, waiting and waiting for a crisis that never showed its face. Her world had been turned upside down over the past few days, and yet somehow it was the same as always. She needed to get out. Skye collapsed onto the edge of her bed. She had the next day off. Tomorrow morning she would take a trip up to Snakehead Falls .. _alone_. She hadn't seen the place in a while, and she was realising how much she missed the freedom .. the familiar places. She was always taking orders, listening to people, trying to avoid awkward situations. She didn't want to be around people. She missed feeling like herself. Skye smiled. Her decision was made. The next day would be spent outside the colony.

* * *

Deborah raised an eyebrow as she caught sight of Lucas on the opposite side of the street. She had decided to leave the Festival early anyway, despite Elisabeth's best efforts, and was now making the short journey home. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to shake this headache. She tried to catch Lucas' eye as he wandered past, but he didn't seem to see her. Strange .. he normally had the senses of a wild animal - almost to the point of paranoia - and yet, she was sure he would have acknowledged her presence if he had noticed her. She considered calling out to him, but he seemed worlds away. Probably for the best, Deborah thought. Her headache was getting worse by the minute.

Skye's eyes flew open with a start as she heard the front door rattle open and then swing softly shut.

Surely he wouldn't ..

She relaxed a moment later as she heard the gentle patter of her mother's feet pass her door. She wondered if her mother had enjoyed herself. How had the Festival gone? What had she eaten? Who had showed up? More to the point, who hadn't? There was very little one could ascertain from the sound of a person's footsteps. Skye lay still for a moment, but in the end, unable to curb her curiosity, she sat up.

Deborah swallowed her mouthful of water with a grimace. Her throat was still sore. It had been sore for weeks.

"Did you party hard?"

Deborah jumped as her daughter's voice broke into the silent kitchen. She turned with a hand on her heart.

"Skye! I thought you were asleep!"

"No such luck, I'm afraid." Skye smiled wryly.

Deborah was relieved to see that she was looking more like her old self. Maybe Elisabeth had been right after all.

"So .." Skye folded her arms and leaned on the wall beside her. ".. how were the festivities?"

"Well .." Deborah placed her cup in the sink and turned back to her daughter thoughtfully. "I spent most of the night with Elisabeth .."

"Talking about me." Skye nodded matter-of-factly, and her mother shot her a laughing look.

"Not all the time."

Skye smiled, looking a little pained, but attempting to sound normal.

"And how was Josh?"

"He feels bad." Deborah said simply. "He doesn't know how to fix it."

"He can't fix it." Skye muttered, turning her attention to a fascinating knot in the wood floor.

"Maybe not." Her mother assented reluctantly. "But we all have to make hard decisions at times. Try not to hold it against him."

When she received no reply, Deborah decided it was time to change the subject. She turned to another point that had been worrying her.

"Skye .." She waited until Skye met her gaze and then continued. "Lucas wasn't here, was he?"

Skye raised her eyebrows at her mother.

"When?"

Deborah scoffed.

"When? Don't be smart with me! Tonight."

Skye stepped forward and leaned on the counter, smiling sweetly at her mother.

"I can't help it! I'm smart with everybody."

"Skye .."

Skye rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Fine, he was here .. but only for a minute!" as she saw her mother's face tighten ".. and he never came inside. Just .. stood .. in the doorway."

As Skye frowned to herself, Deborah watched her anxiously for a moment.

"Bucket, I wish you wouldn't-"

"Mom!" Skye stared at her mother in half-pretend exasperation. "If you're going to tell me you wish I wouldn't go see Lucas by myself, please .. _don't_."

Deborah watched her daughter seriously. Actually, she had been going to say she wished Skye wouldn't try to pretend everything was alright, but now that she'd brought it up ..

"Skye, no matter how many times you assure me I don't need to worry, it still doesn't feel right."

"Where else are we going to play chess?" Skye raised her eyebrows and stared at her mother as if she was making the most logical argument in the world.

Deborah eyed her severely.

"Outside? In the sunshine?"

Skye closed her eyes tightly for a moment as if the conversation suddenly pained her.

"You know I hate people staring."

"Well-"

"And they _always_ do. Always." Skye attempted to smile reassuringly. "But you know you don't have to worry. I always take my sonic with me for a reason."

Deborah returned the smile, but continued to watch her daughter curiously.

"But Skye .. if the time came when you needed it, would you use it? _Could_ you use it?"

Skye grimaced.

"Haven't we already established this?"

"The occupation was a long time ago."

"Not THAT long ago." Skye shook her head, but Deborah was still watching her with the same concerned expression. She resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. She hadn't even seen Lucas very often lately. Truth be told, their visits had been growing less and less frequent for some time. She just wished her mother would stop her endless worrying. Finally, she said what she knew her mother was waiting to hear.

"The answer to your question is yes. If he gave me reason to, I wouldn't hesitate."

"Good."

Deborah still had her doubts, but she decided now was as good a time as any to drop the subject. Further discussion never amounted to anything. Skye was as stubborn as she'd ever been. If she wanted to go, for whatever reason .. she'd go. Deborah suddenly felt very tired as her headache surged back.

"Well, it's been an exciting night, but it's time we were off to bed." She stepped forward and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Goodnight, my Bucket."

"Goodnight, Mom."

Skye shared a last smile with her mother as the latter retreated into her room. When Deborah had closed the door, Skye let the smile fall from her face. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

* * *

As is quite often the case with large events, the lead-up to the Market Festival was much longer than the event itself. In a shorter time than seemed possible, it was over, and the colonists took themselves off to bed, happy and exhausted. The market people remained for a little while, packing up well into the early hours of the morning. The day after Market Festival was one of the only days of the year they actually took off, and they fully intended to finish all of their remaining jobs before then. Finally, however, even they went home to bed .. just in time.

The black clouds that had been hovering over Terra Nova all afternoon finally broke, as if they had been holding back until the Festival was over, allowing the tiny people below one more night of joy before pouring further disaster out upon them. The bright moon was overtaken, the colony was plunged into darkness and the deafening thunder of rain was heard on the rooftops once again.

Hidden in the trees nearby, a familiar yet unwelcome figure began making its way toward the fence, creeping imperceptibly through the darkness. The drumming rain masked his presence, the wind began to howl softly as if it was crying out some indecipherable warning ..

_And the Probe flickered._


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Before Skye even opened her eyes, she knew something was wrong. The festival music had died down hours ago, and all had fallen silent, barring the steady beating of the rain on the roof. Until now. The noise wasn't loud or even ordinarily noticeable .. but it was human. Someone else was in the room with her. Someone unfamiliar. Before she had time to react, a scratchy hand was slammed firmly against her mouth. Her attempts to scream and wrench the hand away proved futile. She kicked out and twisted, but the grip was like iron. She couldn't get away. Her wrists were slammed together and she found she couldn't move them anymore. Skye's eyes widened in horror just in time to see the piece of material in front of her face. She hurriedly shut her eyes again as the blindfold went on. Evidently the person holding her didn't care whether it was secured with her eyes open or not. Skye took a deep breath and tried to think clearly over the horrible smell of the glove under her nose. There had been at least two people in the room. She continued to struggle in vain as she felt herself leave her bed. She was being hauled somewhere. Her kidnappers were unnaturally quiet .. or maybe the rain was unnaturally loud. Regardless, no one would hear a thing as she was dragged away. She flung her legs out to try and connect with something, make some noise, but she couldn't find anything near. She couldn't see, couldn't hear anything besides that wretched rain. She could feel it on her face and arms now, along with the push of the wind as she floated along with it. She felt as though she was being carried through emptiness, though of course she still had to be in the colony. In desperation, she kicked out again, but found nothing. A moment later, her legs were gripped painfully tight, and she realised they had been bound together. There was still no sound from her abductors save the occasional crunch of a footstep on gravel. Her heartbeat throbbed loudly in her ears, making it harder to hear anything. Her clothes were soaked already. Despite the warmth of the night, she began to shiver. Her skin was numb and cold. Her insides felt frozen. At one stage, she felt herself lowered and dragged along the damp ground for a metre or so before being raised up again. With a sickening jolt, she realised that they had passed under the fence. She had vanished silently into the night, and no one would be any the wiser.

After what seemed like hours of being carted along, Skye felt her kidnappers stop abruptly. The restraints on her wrists were tightened considerably, but she barely felt them. An angry yell had cut through the darkness far above her, before it had been almost immediately stifled. Was it possible .. ? Her thoughts were shredded to pieces by the rapid sensation of her hands flying above her and her arms nearly being yanked out of their sockets. She was swinging up now - up, up, with only the rope around her wrists to support her. Now that the glove had gone from her mouth, she found she could cry out freely if she wanted to, but something stopped her. Instead, her breath came in short sobs as she was pulled the last few metres and deposited roughly onto solid ground. She sat in confusion for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Her head was spinning, and she wasn't at all sure which way was up. She found she could move her legs once again now - maybe they hadn't been bound after all. Dizzily, she tried to get her feet under her, but she was promptly grabbed again and dragged across the floor - wood, it sounded like, judging by her vicious kicks - and eventually thrown down once more, landing painfully on her elbows with a smack. Yep, it was wood.

"String her up with the others."

The oddly familiar voice sent Skye's mind to work again, but a moment later, she was distracted by a tug on her arm. As her wrists were temporarily set free, she took the opportunity to swing out at the man closest to her. Her sore arm collided with a heavy vest and made little impact. Nevertheless, the soft "oof" from her companion was somewhat rewarding. She instantly regretted her moment of triumph, however, as her arms were pulled roughly up in opposite directions and she found she was hanging once again. She aimed another kick at her last target, but found he was no longer there. In sudden desperation, she cried out to the empty darkness surrounding her.

"What do you want?!"

"Skye!"

Skye turned to face the sound on her left and was pleasantly surprised to find the blindfold instantly taken off. She found herself staring into the eyes of her mother. Deborah was restrained exactly as Skye was, which wouldn't ordinarily have been good news, but the relief at seeing her almost made Skye's legs collapse upon themselves. She would have fallen to the floor if it hadn't been for the ropes tying her up.

"Mom, are you alright?!"

"I'm okay, Bucket."

Her mother's voice was low and held an unmistakable note of warning. Skye paused and glanced around the room. Now that she knew she wasn't alone, she was barely surprised to see Lucas tied up similarly across from her, still with a large gloved hand around his mouth. It was rather appropriate, after all. This horrible situation would barely feel complete without him. Lucas met her gaze darkly. He looked at though he was going to break out of containment at any moment, though the man behind him didn't seem to care that he was struggling. He held his position as easily as if he'd been quieting a child. It would've almost been funny, Skye mused, under different circumstances.

There was another man behind her mother, and - judging by the smell - one more behind herself. They were all staring expectantly at the centre of the room, where another man stood waiting, wearing a smirk that looked almost too big for his face. He spread his arms out wide as Skye's focus centred on him.

"Welcome to my observation room. It's not much, but it's home .. for now."

He smiled gleefully for a moment and then began to walk slowly around the room, passing close by all his prisoners in turn. Skye noted that he walked with a distinct limp. As he reached her, he paused.

"As you can see, I've healed quite nicely from our little .. incident." He patted his thigh as if to demonstrate that it didn't hurt.

A muffled growl came from the other side of the room. With a silent nod in his direction, Lucas' mouth was released from its leather prison. He quickly made good use of the fact.

"You kidnap us from a guarded colony, at the dead of night, in the middle of the pouring rain, with a flood threat around the corner - are you MAD?!"

Hooper smiled patiently at him.

"Not _mad_, though they do say 'it takes one to know one', so I'm willing to bow to your expert judgement." As Lucas curled his lip at the detestable little man, Hooper continued. "We've been watching the colony from afar for weeks. All your little comings and goings, all your little parties and dramas. You've become quite the source of entertainment around here, I must say. But that's not why we're here."

As Hooper trailed off, Lucas rapidly tired of waiting and raised his eyebrows expectantly. The shorter man pointed at him.

"I love to see you so eager. Especially since all this .. is for you!" He glanced around at the room to make sure everyone was enjoying his little production. "You see, genius .. considering how much you evidently enjoy playing games with us, we thought we'd return the favour and set up a nice little game for you."

As a bewildered frown made its way onto Lucas' face, Hooper's expression darkened maliciously.

"I heard your little sob story."

As Lucas stared at him in confusion, Hooper smiled again.

"But we'll come to that." As he opened his mouth to continue, Lucas began speaking at the same time. Hooper held up a hand, causing the glove to slam over Lucas' mouth again.

"Please." Hooper gestured graciously in Lucas' direction, causing the confused guard to remove his hand hesitantly. ".. you go first."

Lucas was shaking his head.

"How? How have you managed this?"

Hooper steepled his fingers and smiled wickedly.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd ask that. You see .." He began to walk slowly closer to Lucas, never breaking eye contact. ".. we aren't as dumb as everyone seems to think. What did you think would happen when you abandoned us in the wilderness, hmm? No weapons, no food. That we were just going to curl up and die? Just what kind of idiots do you think we are, Taylor? We had our own stockpile, just like Mira's chimps."

A few of his men grunted in support. Lucas glanced around at them.

"But .. the journey back .. and your leg .."

"It was a long walk, I will admit." Hooper was quite close to Lucas now. He stopped directly in front of him and turned to the other two, not wanting to leave them out of the conversation. "Why do you think it took me this long?"

No one replied, so he shrugged and turned back to Lucas, staring into his face solemnly, as if he was about to explain something to a small child.

"So! Back to the game. Here's the rules: _I_ am going to kill one of your friends in the morning, BUT _you_ can choose to save one. Kill one, save the other. Your choice. Simple enough, right?"

Hooper stepped back and beamed around at the frozen room.

"Isn't this fun? Who will it be? You have 5 hours to decide. Your time .. starts .. now!"

He clapped his hands together and then fell silent, staring at Lucas as a growing smile crept across his face. He'd been imagining this moment for a long time. He'd even rehearsed it. Now the time had finally arrived. He was about to ruin this man before the night was out. Lucas would be broken, irreparably so .. and he got to orchestrate it. This was so much better than outright killing him.

"Oh, there are plenty of ways we could do it .." Hooper continued, sounding as though he was enjoying the stunned attention his announcement had brought him. "We could shoot you, of course, but that's so _boring_. Ooh! Wouldn't it be fun if you took a tumble over the edge! We're a fair way up .."

Lucas shot a look at Skye, suddenly recalling a time when he had threatened to do a very similar thing. When he turned back to Hooper, the man was nodding slowly.

"Yesss .. that's right. Tomorrow morning, your young friend could be dead. You're the only one who can stop it, but in doing so, you have to let her mother die. Sound familiar yet?"

Lucas watched Hooper. He appeared to be enjoying every moment of this drawn-out explanation, but underneath his gleeful exterior was a hint of iron. A cold lump of fear started to harden in Lucas' stomach as the reality began to sink in.

He wasn't joking.

"Well, enjoy your night!"

As Hooper made to walk out, Lucas suddenly called out to him with a stab of panic.

"Wait! Kill me instead!"

"Mmm, no can do." Hooper looked over his shoulder and grimaced apologetically. "That's against the rules of the game. Although you won't be walking out of here either, I can tell you that much. I'll leave you to think it over. This isn't a dictatorship! Discuss it amongst yourselves. Tata!"

He exited with two of his men, leaving one behind to guard the prisoners. They watched him until he disappeared from their view between a gap in the bamboo railing. They didn't hear a yell, so presumably there was a walkway on the other side.

They hung in silence for a little while, dripping water onto the wood beams below and creating damp patches where they stood. They were all justifiably soaked, even the guard, who stood watching quietly from the other side of the establishment. Eventually, Skye recovered enough to shake her head in frustration.

"How did they even manage to get in undetected? Our security system's not THAT depleted .. and yet, they _still_ got in."

"Of course they got in." Lucas snapped, shaking his head bitterly. "What are a few of our security guards against the best army money can buy?"

Skye blinked, a little taken aback by his sharp reply.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He continued to stare at the floor in front of him. The room was silent for a moment before Skye spoke up wearily.

"Do you have to do that all the time?"

Lucas frowned and looked up at her.

"What?"

Skye shrugged as well as she could.

"Do you have to be so .. cryptic?"

"Do you have to be so quick to point out my failures?"

The harsh irritation in his voice grated on her raw nerves. She shot back a sharp reply, glaring at him from across the room.

"Well, you will keep reminding me of them."

"Or maybe they're just all you want to see."

_"Enough. Please!" _

Deborah sounded more snappy than she had meant to, but she ached all over from the rough trip, she was strung up like a smoked ham, and the last thing she wanted to listen to was her young companions arguing, adults though they may be.

Skye and Lucas glanced at her, then at each other, but said nothing, instead taking the opportunity to examine their cage. It was nestled way up in the trees where no one could find it - evidently Hooper's men had learned _something_ from the Sixers. The floor of the circular structure was made out of rough pieces of wood, with a crude railing around the edge. The roof was made of several small pieces of tarp attached to each other, and it stretched down the edge of the "wall" a little way to provide more of a camouflage effect. It wasn't pretty, but it was sturdy, and it kept the pounding rain off. Hooper and his men had actually done a fairly decent job.

"And what about you?" Lucas' eyes fell on the guard standing near the far side of the structure. "What are you following a weasel like that around for? Money?"

To his mild surprise, the man responded in a friendly enough tone.

"Of course."

Lucas nodded and assumed that to be the end of the conversation, but the guard continued.

"He's not the monster you all think he is. He's saved my life many times."

Deborah and Skye listened curiously as Lucas scoffed.

"Did he ask for your right leg in return?"

"He didn't ask for anything." The guard watched them seriously. "Hooper has his faults. I don't need to spell them out for you, but he's a good leader where it counts. He looks after his men provided they remain loyal. And despite what you may believe, he isn't a coward. He's efficient. He moves in darkness because that is the safest way for us."

"And you don't see anything wrong with sneaking into our colony and kidnapping us from our beds?"

The guard shrugged.

"I hold no resentment against you. I fight for a living, no matter which side."

Lucas opened his mouth to reply, but Skye's scornful retort beat him to it.

"You're a killer for hire."

"Maybe. But I've worked for much worse men than Hooper."

Lucas swung against his ropes, staring at the man curiously.

"What's your point in all this?"

"That he isn't who you think he is .. but he's also not a man to be underestimated. He likes to put on a show, but he also makes good his threats. Two of you WILL be dead come sunup. If you're not careful, it'll be three."

Deborah had been thinking quietly throughout this conversation. Now she spoke up slowly.

"Lucas, I want you to listen to me."

Lucas met her eyes, but made no promises.

"If the worst happens and you are made to choose-"

"Shut up." Lucas muttered, and turned away to stare out at the rain, ignoring Skye's indignant "Hey!".

Deborah persisted.

"This is going to happen, whether you want it to or not. We need to make a decision."

"No." Lucas suddenly turned on her furiously. "I will not be responsible for the deaths of either one of you. Never. Understand me?"

As Deborah tried again, he practically spat out the words.

"DROP IT."

She exchanged a helpless look with Skye as he returned his attention to the rain. All was silent for a little while until Skye decided to try.

"They're going to kill all of us." Try as she might, she couldn't keep the shaking out of her voice. "ALL of us, don't you understand?"

"Of _course_ I understand." Lucas replied in a low voice.

Skye continued on, hoping she was getting through to him.

"He's giving you a choice-"

"A choice I can't make!" Lucas stared at her in despair. "I can't! I won't."

With that, he turned away, shutting his ears to every other attempt to draw him out. He went away in his mind, as he often had years ago. He had learned to tune the world out so effectively that he no longer heard the rain, no longer heard Deborah's futile attempts to reason with him, no longer heard anything except a soft humming in his ears. The familiar sound calmed him a little as the memories returned. Many years ago, his old air purification unit used to sit on his bedroom wall, purring away, night and day. When his father was absent and the house seemed dead, that little unit continued to sing him to sleep. Now he heard it in his mind, still humming gently. He hung his head and closed his eyes tightly.

The rain continued to patter on the canvas roof as the night wore on. Every now and then, the call of a wild animal was heard below. None of the occupants in the tent above said a word. Sick with fear, Skye and Deborah hung silently, trying to conjure up some way to get themselves free, but try as they might, they couldn't. Even if they finally succeeded in getting their ropes off, they still would have had the guard to take care of. Still, it was a better chance than their current one. Ignoring the guard's advice not to bother, they spent the hours before dawn rubbing their wrists raw in an attempt to get free of the restraints. It was just as useless as it was painful, and the burn of the rough cord on their open skin brought tears into their eyes and down their faces, but it was better than hanging and waiting for certain death.

Lucas seemed to have forgotten they were there. He was slumped down in an almost comatose manner, unreachable even to the people he cared about most. In his mind's eye, he saw his mother's face, smiling at him. She had always known what to do in difficult situations. She was their strength, and without her, they had become nothing, fallen into broken pieces that were impossible to repair. His father suddenly appeared in the background of his dream, but instead of the usual hate he felt upon seeing the image, Lucas felt somewhat comforted. He almost wished his father was here. He'd know how to get out of this situation. Even as he realised it, Lucas could practically hear Nathaniel's voice in his head.

"What are you thinkin', boy? Hallucinatin' a dead man. You gone crazy after all?"

A sudden muffled sob from Lucas made the others glance up, but he was still far away. He held back a cry as his parents faded into the darkness together, leaving him alone once again. He still refused to believe Nathaniel was dead, but even he had to admit the timing was convenient. He was always nowhere to be found when Lucas needed him. Now, when he actually wanted him for a change, he was playing dead. He probably knew about this whole situation already. He was probably watching from nearby, waiting for the final moment when he could be rid of his son forever.

Lucas stifled another sob. Oh, _where_ was his father?!


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Taylor swung rapidly out of the way as the large dinosaur leaped, the snap of its jaws narrowly missing his shoulder.

"Haha, thought you had me that time, didn't you? Well, too bad."

He leapt back as the creature balanced itself on its back legs for a moment and a massive claw swiped at him.

"Gonna have to do better than that!" Taylor swung a flaming branch across in front of the dinosaur's face and it took a tentative step back.

"Look .."

The former commander paused and watched the beast a few feet from him. It seemed to be taking the opportunity to rest while he did. They'd been at it for half an hour. Taylor continued, appearing calm, but never taking his eyes off his enemy.

"If you're going to keep this up, you'll wear yourself out. You can't come after me and find food for yourself at the same time."

He brushed the flaming branch across the creature's nose as it began to resume its approach.

"Stop it, I'm not done. The point is, you need to eat. I need to eat. This isn't getting us anywhere."

The futility of the battle didn't seem to bother the Kaprosuchus however. He began to circle around Taylor, who followed him with the fire and sighed half-heartedly.

"Alright. If that's the way you want it-" 

* * *

It seemed to the prisoners up in the trees that night would last forever, but of course, it didn't. For better or for worse, time waits for no one. Eventually, morning broke, though you wouldn't have known it. It was a sad kind of morning, dark and wet, no birds singing, no sun to warm and bring hope. It was the type of morning, in fact, that Lucas usually liked. If he'd been at home in his safe, dry house, he probably would have heartily approved of it, but out here, up in the trees with death hanging over them, the weather did little to help the mood.

Hooper returned with his other two men in tow. The flaming torch in his hand flickered wildly and cast eerie shadows around the room, as though the light and the darkness were playing happily with each other, completely oblivious to the morbid atmosphere inside the bamboo chamber.

"So." Hooper's voice sounded inappropriately cheerful as he examined his prisoners one by one. "How did we sleep?"

When no one answered him, he shrugged and glanced at one of his men.

"You try to be a good host .." He turned back and let his gaze rest on Lucas. "Genius. I trust you slept well, heartless criminal as you are. Have you made a decision yet?"

Lucas didn't respond, but continued to blink wearily at the floorboards. During the night, they had finally dried. His clothes were an odd mixture of stiff in places and damp in others, but it was better than being completely soaked. Hooper suddenly appeared in front of him as the man bent down to look up into his face.

"Good. You're awake. Don't want to talk?"

When Lucas still didn't respond, Hooper appeared to consider his options for a moment. He held his hand out to the soldier beside him, who handed him a rifle. Hooper raised it half-way, and then lowered it again slowly. Clearly, Lucas was not going to respond to painful stimuli .. _physically_ painful stimuli, Hooper corrected himself as he looked around. But the egotistical physicist was a sucker for emotional abuse. Hooper grinned as he wandered over to Skye and came to stand in front of her, waving the rifle carelessly.

"It seems he doesn't care what happens to you." He tilted his head to catch Skye's eye and pushed his lower lip out in a ridiculous expression of pity. "Don't you just hate people who won't play the game?"

Skye said nothing, staring at him scornfully. Hooper turned back to Lucas, who was still not looking at him. With a rapid movement, the elite soldier swung the rifle back to collide with Skye's abdomen. Despite her firm resolve, Skye cried out in pain as the butt of the rifle made impact. It had all happened so quickly, no one except Hooper's men had seen it coming. A couple of them grinned at each other as a result. This was the part they had been anticipating. Hooper liked to take things slowly, lazily, so that he could strike with the full element of surprise when the situation presented itself. Only the man that had guarded them overnight showed no signs of pleasure.

Lucas yelled at Hooper furiously.

"STOP IT!"

The soldier smiled at him, pleased to find he finally had Lucas' attention.

"Nice to have you with us. Remember .. only you have the power to stop this. Their pain is on your head. How does that feel?" When Lucas didn't respond, Hooper sighed. "Come on, MAKE up your MIND, genius! You can grant one prisoner their life - your little sweetheart or this ugly old bag of bones here. Personally, I know which one I'd be choosing .."

He twirled one of Skye's curls around his finger as she stubbornly blinked back tears of pain.

".. though you're such a sentimental mama's boy, I'd imagine the choice is eating away at you."

Hooper handed the rifle back to one of his men and wandered over to Deborah, folding his arms and examining her critically.

"Doesn't look like much, but you never can tell." He shook his head and sighed dramatically. "Yours is a tragic story. How does it feel to be responsible for the deaths of both your mothers?"

Lucas pulled against his restraints.

"You leave her alone, or I swear, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Hooper turned back to his former colleague mockingly. "You'll kill me with your _mind? _Oh, no, wait wait .. the trauma will cause you to mutate and you'll break out of your bonds like some superhuman! .. yeah."

Hooper laughed harshly.

"I'd pay to see that. Maybe I should kill one of them now just to see what happens .. Shall we try it?"

He tore his pistol out rapidly and pushed it into Deborah's head with a gleeful grin. Lucas yelled and then winced away, closing his eyes tightly against the awful bang he knew was coming. Hooper laughed loudly. When Lucas opened his eyes again, the Phoenix commander was walking back over to him. Lucas met Deborah's gaze shakily and she attempted to muster a smile. He turned back to Hooper with a little more determination. This was his last chance.

"Hooper .. look, I know you don't want to do this. You're a soldier, not a monster. You don't kill in cold blood."

"Oh, Lucas, Lucas .." Hooper paused near Skye again and shook his head as if he was disappointed. "You know me so well."

He suddenly flung back his arm and his gun caught Skye across the right side of her forehead, causing blood to start flowing freely from the nasty gash. Hooper examined the cut for a moment with a hint of satisfaction.

"I wouldn't hesitate to kill them right now on the spot." Hooper watched him slyly over his shoulder. "You of all people know I'm capable of much worse .."

As Hooper continued to watch him, Lucas shook his head slowly.

"Please .. Please don't do this."

"I'm afraid it's time." Hooper ignored him and began to fiddle with his handgun very obviously. "One of you lovely ladies must bite the bullet .. literally."

He snorted at his own joke and then pointed the gun at Skye.

"You .." He swung it to Deborah. ".. or you. You .." as he swung it back to Skye ".. or you?"

He glanced back at Lucas, who looked as if he was about to throw up.

"Choose quickly, mama's boy, or they're both history." He glanced around with pleasure as Deborah spoke up.

"Lucas, look at me. You don't have a choice. This is not your decision. Save Skye."

"No!" Skye screamed, but her mother continued.

"Lucas, this isn't your fault, but you have to speak up now. You can save her life. Do it."

Lucas shook his head as tears filled his eyes.

"No .." He whispered, but Deborah nodded firmly.

"Yes." She took a deep breath, and attempted to shut her ears to her daughter's distraught sobs. "Listen to me, son. This is NOT your fault, do you understand me?"

Lucas' legs had failed to hold him up any longer, and he hung from his restraints, his chest heaving - whether with sobs or retching, not even he could tell. Hooper grew impatient with the spectacle all of a sudden.

"Genius boy .." He sing-songed as he crept closer to Lucas. "Make a decision or they both go bye-bye."

"SPARE MY DAUGHTER." Deborah commanded. Hooper put a finger up to his mouth as if he was deciding.

"Uhh, no." He gestured to the broken young man beside him. "Only this soggy lump can call the shots."

Hooper turned back to Skye and cocked the gun.

"The little lady goes sleepy-bye in three .."

"LUCAS." Deborah had shaken away the tears in her own eyes and was now fully in charge once more. Her voice somehow reached Lucas in his hysterical state and he looked up at her shakily, trying to focus on her face while the world around him swam dangerously. He was as white as a sheet and close to collapse. She had to get through to him. She had to make him understand.

".. two .."

Skye had fallen silent, as if her tongue now refused to function. She watched in horror as the situation played out in front of her eyes. Deborah smiled reassuringly at Lucas and enlisted all of her remaining willpower to stop her voice from shaking.

"You only need to do one more thing now, and then it will all be over. I'm relying on you. Say 'Save Skye'. That's all you need to do. 'SAVE. SKYE.'"

".. _ooooooone_ .."

Hooper stretched out the final number dramatically. As Lucas met Deborah's eyes, she slowly nodded. He summoned up all of the energy he had left and forced his voice out past his constricting throat. The words were barely more than a whisper, but they were enough for Hooper.

"Save Skye."

Lucas collapsed against his ropes and began to weep all over again.

"You did it! I'm so proud of you!" Deborah was almost sobbing herself with relief.

Hooper turned back to him in satisfaction.

"Well! Look who finally decided to make the smart choice." He began to wander lazily over to Deborah. "Say goodbye to mommy."

Skye tried to scream, tried to plead, but no sound would come out. Her worst nightmare was coming to fruition, and all she could do was stand by and watch it happen.

Deborah lifted her chin up defiantly as Hooper approached.

"You will live to regret this."

Hooper tilted his head.

"Will I? Hm? A clue .. no." He lifted the gun for the final time, but as he readied it, an odd creaking sound made him turn.

His men were staring this way and that, looking as confused as he was. The creaking grew louder around them. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

"What is that?!" Hooper yelled, but everyone was as clueless as he was. Even Lucas seemed to come to life a little as the situation shifted focus. The bamboo walls were shaking and a couple of them had split threateningly. The small group inside stared around in surprise. Just as it seemed the structure would collapse in on itself, the creaking stopped abruptly and the room fell quiet. Even the rain had stopped.

After a moment of silent anticipation in which absolutely nothing happened, Hooper gave a short laugh and turned back to Deborah.

"Now, where were we?"

He was annoyed to find she wasn't even looking at him. She obviously didn't realise the seriousness of her situation! He was about to force her to give him her full attention when his better sense stopped him. Something was going on. Something bigger than him. He turned as an odd sound, like sandpaper on wood, came from the trees outside. Something was coming closer. He sensed the movement of something large just outside and squinted, trying to make out anything beyond the small room, but the torchlight was playing tricks with his eyes and he found he couldn't focus.

A moment later, Hooper swallowed a horrified gasp as a giant cream-coloured head emerged out of the darkness, pressing itself through the gap between the railing as though it was entering its own tiny house. The skin was semi-translucent and reflected the torchlight in an alarming manner. The monstrous head was followed by a thick, smooth neck. It crept in a little ways and then froze, its slitted red eyes flickering around at the terrified spectators. After a moment, its tongue emerged and quivered excitedly. The huge snake suddenly charged up, taking almost the entire roof of the structure with it. Lucas' ropes lost their anchor and he fell to the ground while Skye and Deborah remained secured to shards of the beams that had once made up the ceiling. A couple of Hooper's men yelled and fled, leaving only Hooper and the older guard behind. The prisoners stay completely still, the remnants of tears still visible in their eyes, but their minds now on other things. Lucas was sitting quietly on the floor, working to remove his ropes before the next turn of events.

Hooper glanced around frantically, staring up into the dark foliage above him and then meeting Deborah's eyes, as if he was now turning to her for reassurance.

"Where is it?! Where did it go?!"

"Shh." She warned him, and they all waited, united now against a larger enemy. As the minutes dragged on and the monster didn't return, Hooper glanced helplessly at his only man left, unsure what course to take now that his theatrical plans had been so absolutely demolished.

The guard shouldered his rifle nervously.

"Let's get out of here."

Hooper nodded in swift agreement.

"Right!"

"Wait!" Skye called out as they made a beeline for the exit. "You can't just leave us here!"

"Ahh .. yes I can!" Hooper grinned, a hint of his former arrogance returning. "Have fun battling the elements .. and the .. eh."

He gestured in no particular direction, and then turned to leave again. He hadn't taken three steps before he heard his name called again, a little quieter this time.

"Hooper!"

"What?!"

He turned once again in annoyance, but instead of focusing on Deborah, like he had planned, he found his eyes drifting up .. up into the waiting eyes of the pale creature looming above him. With a sharp intake of breath, he stepped back very slowly. The monster came down out of the trees a little, but still remained in the air above them, hovering expectantly, its serpentine neck writhing slightly back and forth.

Hooper stood for a moment, waiting. The snake did nothing. He decided to take another slow step backwards, forgetting his other leg wasn't as sturdy as it once had been. The other four in the room watched in horror as he stumbled. His leg collapsed under him and he sprawled backwards with a cry, much to the joy of the waiting creature above. There was a pale blur as the snake charged down. Against his better judgement, the last guard ran, abandoning his commanding officer and vanishing into the night. The massive head paused momentarily in front of Hooper, as if it was studying its latest meal. After a moment, its red eyes seemed to spark. It snapped open its huge mouth and hissed loudly, hovering in front of the fallen soldier with a sense of anticipation. It almost looked as though it was smiling. For a wild moment, they thought it was going to turn and leave the way it had come, but the monster snake had other plans. With another hair-raising hiss, it flicked its massive forked tongue and coiled its body like a spring, charging forward and down a moment later to swallow up its reward.

Hooper released a terrified scream as he disappeared.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 **

The remaining three froze. One moment, Hooper had been tormenting them and then the next, he was gone. Erased. Hooper would never threaten them again. The snake turned to look around the room, seemingly no different from a second before. It flickered its tongue once or twice and watched them with its horrible smile. Skye closed her eyes tightly against the scene, trying not to imagine the man-shaped lump that must now be somewhere inside that sleek body. Lucas and Deborah remained as motionless as possible .. watching, waiting. The snake seemed to sit there for an eternity, most of its long body still woven in the trees somewhere up above. Just how long it was, no one knew for sure .. and no one dared to guess. Staring at it, they almost wished for Hooper back. This monster a few feet away had saved them, but just as it had taken care of their old enemy, it had become their new one. The titan snake's red eyes seemed to restrict and dilate rhythmically as it stared back. It was a thing of unimaginable horror; it was a nightmare come to life. They never wanted to catch a glimpse of it again, yet they suspected that even if they did manage to escape it, they would never truly outrun it.

They would see it every time they closed their eyes.

Just when they began to think it would never leave, the rain started up again. The first few random spits developed quickly into a light shower. The remaining torches were extinguished, forcing the tired eyes of the party to adjust to the dim first light of dawn. More rain was the last thing they would ever have wished for, but as it turns out, this time it was to their benefit. Their companion seemed to hate the rain even more than they did. The huge cream body shuddered, writhed back in distaste, then quickly retreated out of the roofless ruin and back into the sanctuary of the forest.

Lucas cautiously removed the rest of his restraints and dropped them onto the wood floor, looking up to stare at the people across the room - two people he had grown to care about more than he thought was possible. And he'd almost lost them. Deborah and Skye were still hanging, watching him stoically. The rain, though light, was already returning their clothes to their former state of damp. Casting a final tentative glance around, he moved forward across the recently vacated space and, at a nod from Skye, began to silently untie the ropes around Deborah's wrists. When he was finished, she put a hand up to his face and smiled at him affectionately. He smiled back at her, though a nagging feeling was born inside of him in that moment that refused to go away for some time. She looked exhausted, but then, they were all exhausted. Later, Lucas would realise what the difference was. Skye and himself, of course, looked worn out, but in Deborah's case, it was more than that. She looked almost haggard, as though the struggle to remain strong was slowly beginning to suck the life out of her once more. She had reminded him very much of the state she was in when he'd first met her in the Sixer camp. The thought wasn't a comforting one.

They both turned to Skye then, who had been waiting patiently while her mother was tended to. Lucas reached up and started working on her right wrist while Deborah tried to shake some of the feeling back into her own hands. Skye's head was still pounding painfully from the blow, and it seemed to be taking Lucas an eternity to loosen the knot. When the first of her restraints was finally undone, she found she could no longer hold herself up and dropped weakly to her knees, taking the rope with her.

Up until that point, no one had said a word, whether for fear of the creature returning or simply due to their current state of shock. Now, Deborah put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and broke the silence in a soft voice.

"Skye? Are you alright?"

"I'm alright." Skye responded, swaying a little as her dizzy head adjusted to the sudden descent. "Just .."

Her voice faded out and she never finished the sentence. As Deborah quickly bent to untie the other wrist, Lucas knelt in front of her with a frown. The cut on the side of her forehead was already coming up in a nasty bruise. The rain had washed away most of the blood, but it still wasn't pretty. He touched the side of her face.

"Let me-"

"It's fine." Skye attempted to turn her head away, but Lucas gently pushed it back around.

"You can't go running through the jungle like that."

Skye wanted to protest, but in truth, she really wasn't in any state of mind to argue. She felt as though she was going to be sick. Lucas took her silence as resignation and fell to examining the wound as best he could in the low light. It didn't look too deep, but she'd certainly been given a nasty whack. At the very least, it needed some description of bandage on it. Maybe Hooper's men had some medical supplies stored away somewhere. As Deborah carefully worked on the last knot, making sure to avoid the painful-looking rope burn around Skye's wrist, he finished his examination.

"How are you feeling now? Dizziness gone?"

"I'm alright."

Lucas smiled a little.

"That wasn't what I asked."

Skye looked up at him. He turned from the wound and met her eyes as Deborah watched thoughtfully from the side. After a few seconds, Skye suddenly shivered and dropped her gaze, pushing his hand away completely.

"Please don't touch me again."

Lucas let his hand fall like he'd been burned and cast a confused glance at Deborah. She gave him a small smile, but said nothing, removing the last of the ropes and throwing them away. Turning back, she knelt beside her daughter and put an arm around her.

"Can you get up?"

Skye nodded slowly, and Deborah carefully helped her to her feet. Skye swayed for a moment and then steadied, casting a grateful smile at her mother.

"Thanks. I'll be alright now."

Deborah studied her pale face and kept her arm tightly around her daughter's shoulders.

"Are you sure? I'm beginning to think we should look around before we leave. Hooper's men must have some supplies somewhere, and I don't really fancy the idea of going traipsing off through the dark jungle without some form of protection, but if you're really not feeling up to it-"

"No. I'm better now, I can make it."

Deborah nodded. In a perfect world, she would be able to spare her daughter any unnecessary pain, but out here, survival hinged on the smallest factors. They would all be better off if Skye could pull herself together, heartless though it may seem. Being molly-coddled wouldn't help anyone.

Skye's former relief at being freed was slowly being clouded by dread once again. She stared apprehensively at her mother.

"What if the guards are still around? They could be waiting back there."

"So we'll be careful. But when you think of what else could be around, it seems like a risk worth taking, doesn't it?"

They looked towards the small walkway leading out from the observation centre. Now that the roof was gone, they could see it clearly. Skye nodded slowly and took a careful step forward as she made up her mind. Deborah dropped her arm and glanced at Lucas, who had retreated a few steps and was now waiting on the outskirts of the conversation. He returned her smile, but remained quiet as Skye moved toward the walkway.

"Alright. Let's see what's over here."

"Be careful." Deborah warned, suddenly having a mild panic attack as her mind's eye conjured up a horrid picture of Skye plummeting from the narrow path. Skye smiled to herself, but continued, her attention taken up with keeping her balance, which was proving to be more challenging than she had anticipated. When she reached the other side, Lucas nodded for Deborah to go next. The planks were growing slippery now as the rain intensified, but somehow they all managed to reach the other side without incident, stepping finally off the walkway onto a small platform. A doorway was cut roughly into the bamboo wall ahead of them, and they tentatively ventured inside, Deborah now leading the expedition. They found themselves standing on the edge of a small room, surprisingly neat and tidy under the circumstances, though a dishevelled pile of sparse bedding could be seen in the corner. The roof looked like it had been thrown together using whatever they could find, but (barring a few leaks - usually in the most inconvenient of places) it kept the rain off. A small lantern was still lit and sitting on the crate in the middle of the room that appeared to be doubling as a table, but the place was abandoned. The faint shadow of a small window could be made out on the right side of the room if one squinted, and on the left side of the back wall, a narrow doorway had been cut, presumably leading to another room.

"Seems deserted enough."

Despite the fact, Lucas kept his voice low. Deborah nodded, and stepped sideways to avoid a tiny stream of water that had just decided to start falling on her head.

"Skye and I will search one room. You search the other. Make it quick though."

Lucas nodded in reply and headed for the small back door. Deborah and Skye watched him disappear and then started to examine the contents of the room more thoroughly. Upon removing the lantern and opening the table crate, they found it contained a series of communications equipment as well as some old-looking food. The smelly bedding in the corner was damp and beginning to get mouldy, but Deborah forced herself to make a thorough search of it anyway. Her perseverance was rewarded a few moments later as she pushed aside one of the blankets and uncovered a large assault rifle hidden beneath.

The little window, they discovered, folded out to become a small ledge on which was mounted a large pair of binoculars. Looking through, Skye could just make out the lights of Terra Nova in the distance. If she could still see it in the darkness and heavy rain, it would be quite easy to see in the daytime. The sight sent another shudder of fear through her. Hooper really had been watching them.

Lucas, on the other side of the bamboo wall, had discovered that this room was very much the same as the last one. Same rough wooden floor, same leaky roof, and more or less the same size. It also appeared to continue out onto a small platform that mirrored the one they had entered through. It was however, decidedly more cluttered. There were tarps and boxes all over the place, some of them appearing to have been utilised as spare beds. A coat was thrown over one box, a broken lantern lay on the floor beside another. For once, a leak in the roof had sprung up in just the right place. Thank goodness for small mercies, or they may have found themselves battling a fire in addition to their current predicament.

Lucas wandered over to the outside-facing door. The small balcony appeared to lead to nowhere, except for the pile of rope ladder in the corner, which told a different story. At least they had their way down. He turned back and continued his search inside, completely unaware of the danger he had just been in. Had he ventured one step further, he would've taken himself directly into the sights of the man currently pressing himself against the wall on the other side of the doorway. Noticing nothing out of the ordinary however, Lucas moved to a nearby box and began searching the pockets of the coat laying on top. The coat was damp and beginning to give off an unpleasant smell, but after living in the jungle for most of his early adulthood, Lucas was used to such things and took little notice. He felt a thrill of triumph as his fingers touched something cold and metallic, but his hopes were dashed a moment later as he realised it was far too small and light to be a weapon. He removed it from the coat and examined it in the dim light. It certainly wasn't a gun, but there was something oddly familiar about the little silver object. He turned it over in his hand and suddenly the realisation struck him. It was his. This small device had belonged to him once, though it seemed like a lifetime ago. He stroked the polished surface with his thumb a few times and then pocketed it. Bigger problems right now.

Rifling quickly through the remaining contents of the shack, Lucas discovered a tin of burnt matches and a dirty pack of bandages that looked as though they'd been used by more than one person. Not helpful. In the next container, he found an empty holster, but no gun. This had to be the most useless treasure hunt in existence. As he rubbed his jaw and threw his head back in annoyance, his eyes suddenly lit up. Lo and behold, there was a black pistol wedged up between the rafters. He reached up eagerly and drew it out. It was in surprisingly good condition considering the state of everything else. At least Hooper's men looked after their weapons. He checked the battery and found it still had a little charge left. At least they would have some protection if things went sideways.

His discovery had come just in time, as luck would have it. A movement behind him suddenly put all his senses on alert. Lucas swung around sharply, bringing the gun up automatically and holding it steady. He found himself face to face with their friend the guard. The same guard that had stood watch over them all night. The same guard that now had a solid bamboo shaft held tightly in his raised hand and looked as though he was still contemplating using it. As Lucas moved slightly closer, his grip on it tightened and his eyes flashed as he considered his options. Whatever had happened to him in the time they'd been apart, it had spooked him badly. He was soaked, wild-eyed, and considerably more disheveled than he had been only minutes earlier. In addition to this, his rifle had mysteriously vanished. They would never discover what had happened to it.

"Drop it."

After returning Lucas' cold glare for a few seconds, the soldier seemed to suddenly regain his common sense and rolled his eyes at his own carelessness. He dropped his arm reluctantly and released his hold on the bamboo shaft, letting it fall with a clatter. Lucas kicked it away and gestured to the hard floor with the pistol. The guard begrudgingly dropped to his knees. Just on the edge of his peripheral vision, he could see the bamboo, which had rebounded off a nearby crate and was now lying just out of his reach. He forced himself not to glance sideways and draw Lucas' attention to it. Not that Lucas would've probably noticed anyway. The young physicist looked as though it was taking all of his focus just to keep a handle on the blinding rage which was threatening to rise up and overshadow all of his better judgement.

"Where are the others?"

"Gone." The man replied simply.

Staring into the face of one of the monsters who had tortured him so recently, Lucas was still battling to control his temper. He was almost shaking with the effort. Half-subconsciously, his finger began to curl over the trigger. He wasn't a killer by nature; circumstance had made him one. It wasn't his fault.

_No_. Another voice inside of him spoke up suddenly, fighting the darkness that threatened to overwhelm his mind. _This isn't who you are. You have a choice. _

Lucas clenched his jaw. His eyes bored into the man at his feet as the rage closed in again.

_That's right. You do have a choice. Think of what he did to you. What he's still doing to you. You don't have to put up with this. You're not a helpless child anymore. You have choices. _

_Do it. _

_Get rid of him. _

Lucas shook his head a little and pushed the tip of the pistol into the soldier's forehead, a little rougher than he meant to, judging by the dull thud it produced. This man was no good. This man deserved whatever he got. No one would miss him. Yet a part of Lucas' mind was still fighting. He made one last desperate attempt to save himself as his conscience sank under the dark waters of his temper. The resulting command burst out of him, sounding startlingly sharp in the quiet room.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you!"

"Because it wouldn't make anyone feel better."

Skye's voice came from directly behind his left shoulder. Lucas clutched the gun tightly with both hands as the shimmering wave of hate in his mind retreated a little.

"Are you forgetting what he put us through?"

"I told you, I don't hold anything against you."

"Shut up!"

As the man subsided and watched them calmly, Skye spoke to him.

"Is there another way out of here? How did you get in?"

"There's a ladder. Out there." He nodded to the door from whence he'd come.

Lucas was shaking again. It felt as though he had never stopped. He gritted his teeth as he tried to focus on the task at hand, but the battle was over. He couldn't even tell if he'd won or lost. He took a step back and repositioned the pistol, but the man kneeling in front of him knew he wouldn't do it. Annoyed by the soldier's apparent lack of respect, Lucas tried to look as though he was about to pull the trigger, but even his own thoughts condemned him. It was all just show at this point. He was faking it, and he knew it.

"You have nothing to prove. To anyone." Skye's voice came again, as if she was reading his thoughts. "He can't hurt us anymore. Let's go home."

Lucas froze for a few moments and then abruptly lowered the gun, staring at the man in disgust.

"Go."

The guard nodded and stood, backing away slowly. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of glancing back toward his piece of bamboo as he passed it. Lucas, still antsy and holding the gun (not a great combination, for future reference), pulled the trigger without a second thought. The guard stumbled back in surprise as the bang shook the rickety structure. Meeting Skye's eyes, he discovered she looked just as dumbfounded as he did. Even Lucas was in a mild state of shock. A moment later, the soldier looked down to find his shoulder was bleeding. He stared at it in vague annoyance.

"How am I supposed to climb the ladder with this?!"

"You'll manage."

As he recovered from his shock, Lucas' eyes had taken on a hard look, intermingled with something like satisfaction.

"Here." He reached down and threw the dirty bandages to the man, who somehow managed to catch them with his good arm. He stared from one face to the other, but received no pity from either party. Seeing no help for it, he retreated morosely out the door. They heard him clambering down the ladder a moment later - a task which he managed surprisingly well under the circumstances - and then silence descended once more as he disappeared into the woods.

Skye stared up at Lucas' grim face reprovingly.

"You didn't have to shoot him."

"I know."

Secretly, however, she wasn't at all sorry he had. Those men had put them through the worst night imaginable, and she couldn't find it in her heart to feel compassion for any of them. She turned her attention back to Lucas and continued to watch him quietly for a few moments. He hadn't released his tight hold on the pistol. As of yet, he hadn't even looked at her. Skye waited. When another few seconds had passed and he still showed no signs of life, she reached out a hand and smiled a little.

"Do you want me to carry that for you?"

He threw an unreadable look at her before bending down to pick up the holster again.

"No, I've got it."

Skye felt part of herself flinch at his cold manner, but she decided to shrug it off. It had been a hard night for all of them. He'd be alright in a day or two. She continued to watch him in silence, pushing away the hint of doubt that still lingered. Lucas finished securing the holster and glanced up to see Deborah looking on from the doorway, holding a rifle that looked far too heavy for her. She smiled a little as he met her gaze.

"Let's get out of here."

He nodded silently and, with a glance at Skye, followed her toward the doorway.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Carter crept through the drizzly early morning as quietly as if he'd been hunting something. Truth be told, he _had_ been hunting something, but he'd lost contact with it the day before. Any attempt to reacquire his target had failed, thanks in part to the ceaseless downpour. The rain had started up again at the most inconvenient of times, and his prey, making the most of their advantage, had promptly vanished into the forest. Carter wasn't used to being foiled so easily. The fact that they'd managed to escape from directly under his nose unnerved him more than he would've cared to admit. He hesitated as the familiar blue of the colony fence emerged from amongst the leaves directly ahead of him. He paused to listen. Nothing. He continued on cautiously, moving parallel to the colony for a while, along the outskirts of the fence. When he was finally satisfied that he was alone, he took a sharp detour and slipped under it.

There was a small group of elite Phoenix remnants incoming. He had stumbled across them earlier that night, and had only just managed to avoid stepping out into the clearing where they were lying in wait. It was pure luck really that one of the men had grown uncomfortable at that second and had shifted positions. The low rustling of the movement had cause Carter to pull up short about two metres from the nearest man. Though he had been moving quietly, his abrupt action had caused them to pause as well, sensing his presence as he had sensed theirs. Concealed in the trees and frozen like a terrified animal, Carter had waited out a tense few minutes as the Phoenix soldiers became alert and stared around the small clearing, waiting for any sign of suspicious activity. Finally, they had seemed to relax a bit and a soft laugh was heard from the leader, followed by a low jeer directed at his men. Carter had sunk down quietly into the undergrowth and waited, staring daggers at the man across from him. Hooper.

Shortly afterwards, the rain had begun, lightly at first. The Phoenix soldiers had gotten up and begun to move away from him as one, as though they had rehearsed the scene a hundred times and were just waiting for nature to signal their commencement. He had followed at a safe distance, but the rain had grown heavier and heavier and the soldiers had seemingly evaporated in front of his eyes. Carter had continued on, more slowly this time, stopping periodically to make sure they weren't doubling back on him. Despite his suspicions, morning had broken with no other sign of them. Common sense told him they were heading in the direction of the colony. If they weren't here by now, they soon would be. He had to get to Mira.

Technically, he should have reported directly to Jim under such circumstances, but Carter was a stubborn creature who had never entirely agreed with the decision to return to Terra Nova. The new Commander wasn't his favourite person in the world either, and so, he ignored the current state of affairs and continued to report directly to Mira instead.

Carter emerged on the inside of the fence and looked around at the dark houses. Aside from the continuous tapping of the rain on roof and gravel, all was silent. It was peaceful, in a slightly spooky way. No sign of war or chaos or disaster. Had he beaten them after all, or was he late to the party? What was Hooper playing at this time?

* * *

Sienna sighed and pressed her forehead against the windowpane, staring out at the dismal atmosphere. She had awoken early - too early, after last night's events - but try as she might, she hadn't been able to get back to sleep. When she'd finally tired of the attempt, she had crept out of her room to patter through the dark house by herself while the rest of the colony slept. Even her mother was still in bed, and she usually woke with the dawn. Despite her glum mood, Sienna grinned as she caught sight of her reflection in a nearby window. Her hair, as per usual after a night of sleeping on it, made it look as though her head had exploded. Some sections of the curly mass were almost standing upright. Sienna had carelessly smoothed them down and gone to the window seat.

She missed her grandfather. She couldn't help it. She always missed him on rainy days, and there'd sure been enough of those lately. Sienna adjusted her position and leaned on her hand. He wasn't her real grandfather of course - wasn't even related to her, but he couldn't have looked after her better if she had been his own child. They'd been all each other had at the time, and she had loved him dearly. Therefore, no matter how many times her mother reminded her that he wasn't her grandfather, she stubbornly clung to her memories and refused to call him anything else. Sienna smiled to herself. Mira had eventually given up.

She watched with interest as a series of large, clear raindrops raced each other down the windowpane, following them with her little finger.

It had taken her a long time to get used to the fact that the rain in Terra Nova didn't hurt when it touched your skin. Thanks to the heavy pollution in future Chicago, she hadn't been allowed outside on rainy days. Instead, whenever it had rained back home, her grandfather would set up his massive olden-day train set and they would spend the day eating toast and making incredibly intricate and overly complicated railways all around the large study. The trains clung to the magnetic rails and carried themselves along with the flick of a switch, so naturally, Sienna and her grandfather had created ridiculous loops and twists and dangerously steep descents and pushed the trains to top speed over it all, making for some impressive tracks and some even more impressive crashes. Sienna had loved it.

She sighed again as the world outside grew a fraction lighter. No one would ever understand how much she missed him, or even how painful it was to remember him. He had given his life so that she could live here, free with her mother, and for that, she should have remembered him with gratitude. Instead, she felt the familiar sting of regret, even betrayal, whenever she allowed herself to dwell on it. Of course she wanted to live with her mother, but her grandfather was irreplaceable.

It was this melancholy state-of-mind that had inspired her to rise early that morning and take her place at the window. She stared out at the plants that had remained after the last downpour. Most of them had drowned, but a few had survived, trying valiantly to pull their droopy leaves and stalks back up to the sky. Sienna felt a wave of pity for them. It was a losing battle. A few more days of rain and everything would be dead.

She suddenly sat up in surprise, plants forgotten, as a dark figure passed close by her window. Why was someone running around in this weather? The figure hesitated, seeming to flicker in and out of focus as the rain obscured her view of it. After a short pause, it began to move again and Sienna watched it slink away around the corner of the house. She only remained in her seat for a moment before she jumped up and ran outside.

* * *

Carter heard his name called and turned around in surprise. The small figure that had yelled to him was waving frantically from Mira's porch. Sienna was currently under the shelter of the overhang and protected from the downpour, but Carter suspected that if he hesitated for much longer, she would run out into the rain and join him. He cast a final glance around, cutting short his intended sweep of the area, then made his way towards her.

"Carter!"

"Hey, kiddo."

The minute he joined her on the porch, he found himself captured. Despite his protests of wetness, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. He accepted the affection awkwardly. Finally, she released him and stared curiously up at him.

"What are you doing here?"

Sienna's clothes had very obvious damp patches on them now from where they had come into contact with his own dripping attire. He began to wring some of the water out of his dirty singlet, hoping to goodness Mira wouldn't notice the state of either one of them.

"I need to talk to your mother."

"Oh, are you finally ready to settle down?"

Carter paused and stared at her. It was impossible to tell what she had been implying beneath her solemn expression, but he knew her well enough to grow uncomfortable at the insinuation despite the fact. He narrowed his eyes, but the girl's poker face never wavered. He changed the subject.

"I thought kids were supposed to grow in the time you didn't see them."

Sienna scowled in anticipation of his next comment.

"And?"

"You're even shorter than I remember."

At that moment, Carter happened to look up and catch Mira's glare from behind the door. Sienna turned as her mother opened it and stepped gracefully out onto the porch. Carter watched her respectfully.

"Mira."

"Carter." Mira looked from her colleague to her daughter. "You two aren't quiet."

Carter shrugged and folded his arms. Mira caught his meaningful look and glanced at Sienna.

"Sienna, wait for me inside."

When her daughter didn't budge, Mira turned her attention back to Carter.

"What's going on?"

"Phoenix." The Sixer replied instantly. "About 2 klicks out and heading in this direction last night."

"How many?"

"Four."

"Where are they now?"

"Lost them."

Carter had never been a man of many words.

Mira stared out at the rain for a moment before turning back to him grimly.

"You better come inside and explain."

* * *

"Why don't you let me carry that for a while?"

"No."

The word had come out more forcefully than Deborah had meant it to. She let out a short laugh as she explained.

"Carrying it makes me feel less useless. And contrary to popular opinion, I do know how to use it."

Despite the rough night and dismal circumstances, a flicker of a grin appeared on Lucas' face at these words. The sight brought a spark of happiness to Deborah's weary spirit.

"I'm fine. Really. They barely laid a hand on me. Go look after Skye. I'll be fine." She repeated, smiling encouragingly at him.

Lucas felt he had little choice but to oblige her, though he continued to keep a close eye on her all the same. Skye was a few metres ahead, insisting, annoyingly, on leading the expedition, though all three had a fairly good idea of where they were going. Lucas easily caught up with her and walked beside her for a moment, their feet filling the silence with the unpleasant squelching sounds of the wet jungle floor.

"You should really do something about that head."

"It's fine."

Skye continued to walk on without even looking at him. Lucas tried again.

"Let me take a look at it. Please."

"No. What are you gonna do about it anyway? You'd barely be able to see it." She glanced at him quickly. "It's fine. We'll be back to the colony soon."

"Still-"

"Are you a doctor?" As Lucas opened his mouth to answer, Skye hurriedly amended her question. "A medical doctor?"

She could just make out Lucas' face as it broke into a small smile.

".. no. But I do have some medical training."

"So do I, and I'm telling you, it's fine."

Lucas' smile disappeared. They continued to walk along wordlessly as the large jungle crickets chirped loudly around them. After a few minutes, Lucas broke the silence once again.

"I'm sorry. I know you're out here because of me, and-"

Skye stopped walking and faced him.

"This is not your fault. I don't blame you .." She reached out a hand as if to pat his arm, but hesitantly retracted it before it got to him. With a rough laugh that pained all three of them, she added, "I blame you for a lot of other things, but not this. Come on. The colony's this way."

She began walking again as Lucas stared after her in distaste.

"If that was an attempt at a joke, it was terrible. Maybe you do need medical attention."

Skye threw her reply over her shoulder.

"I thought you were supposed to be looking after my mother."

Lucas sighed and fell back to help Deborah over a rough area. The Tates loved each other fiercely, but their overprotectiveness was a difficult thing to be caught in the middle of .. as he seemed to be discovering quite frequently of late. Deborah accepted his help humbly, though Lucas knew she was only tolerating it for his sake. He would've been surprised to know she was more grateful for the steadying arm than she let on. When they reached firm ground again, he lengthened his stride for a few steps and caught up to Skye.

"If you don't blame me, then why-"

"Shh." Skye had stopped again, and was now peering cautiously into the dark forest around them. "I thought I heard something."

Lucas hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary, but he raised the pistol anyway. Deborah turned around slowly, holding the rifle at the ready just in case anything decided to fly at them from the bushes. After a few seconds of hearing nothing but their own rapid heartbeats pounding in their ears, Skye continued walking, casting a warning glance in Lucas' direction.

"It could be anywhere. We better be quiet."

He scoffed and fell behind to walk beside Deborah again, holstering the gun so he could help her over a fallen log.

"That thing could hear our footsteps from a mile away. If it's following us, talking's the least of our problems."

Deborah looked up at Lucas. In the past year, a change had come over him, barely noticeable to someone that hadn't known him well earlier, but noticeable nonetheless. He wasn't as guarded, she decided, studying him thoughtfully as they walked. He seemed more inclined to let his real personality through without constantly veiling it with sarcasm. Oh, the sarcasm was still there. She expected he'd been a sarcastic being all his life, but the malice seemed to have taken a back seat, probably due to the lack of his father's shadow. The separation had been good for him, though how long it would last before he slipped and returned to his old ways, she didn't know. Maybe he was changed for good. A part of her certainly hoped he was, but the realistic side had seen too much of life to believe blindly in a happy ending. Chances were, maybe his childhood resentments would always haunt him and he would continue to fall back into the same pattern .. over and over again until it consumed him. Or maybe she was exhausted, slightly hysterical, and inclined to think hopelessly of everything and everyone.

Deborah sighed quietly, causing Lucas to glance quickly at her. She exchanged a brief smile with him and returned to her thoughts as he looked away again.

Both she and her daughter had seen the capacity for both good and evil in him from the moment they met him (though Skye would forever deny the fact). Good seemed to be winning out for the moment, but the young man beside her would always have a dark side. A person couldn't come through what he had and not, she supposed. Lucas struggled to overcome it, but it was a struggle he would never completely win. He was a time bomb. He could snap again at any moment, which was exactly why Jim insisted they keep a close eye on him. It was understandable that Skye was still a little skittish .. especially after this. In fact, Deborah secretly preferred it that way. Despite her affection for the motherless delinquent - and she did love him in her own way - there were some things she would never completely trust him with; not least of which was her only daughter.

* * *

Carter glared up at the sky as the rain abruptly halted and a sudden cold wind transformed his wet clothes into icicles. The weather insisted on teasing them. He put his hands in his soggy pockets, attempting to warm himself without appearing cold. He was finishing up his 7th round of the colony that day. Still no sign of anything unusual, and his patrols were becoming hideously monotonous.

After Carter had come inside and briefly explained himself, Mira had leapt into action.

They had performed a quick sweep of the perimeter to confirm Carter's suspicions, but had discovered nothing out of the ordinary.

They had dropped Sienna off at school and grilled the children and their parents to no avail.

They had stopped to consult with several people on morning walks around the empty marketplace, but no one seemed to have seen anything abnormal or worrying.

Finally, they had followed Jim up the steps into the Command Centre as he began his work day. The second he sat down at his desk, the two Sixers were upon him. He had examined the functioning security feeds and checked in with all of his guards, but as far as anyone was concerned, nothing unusual had occurred.

Mira and Carter had insisted on examining the feeds themselves. They'd been so pedantic that Jim had eventually shooed them out of his office in exasperation. He promised to keep a close eye on things, but the colony seemed to be having a perfectly calm and peaceful day, despite the fact that it was another wet one. Finally, even Carter was more-or-less satisfied. Whatever Hooper and his men were planning must not have happened yet. Either that, or they hadn't actually been heading to the colony after all. Carter shrugged and continued to wander aimlessly around the colony as his clothes dried. He had been left in relative peace as the hours passed. If anyone was surprised to see him there, they didn't seem to be inclined to stare at him for long. Around and around he went, keeping his eyes peeled for anything of interest. He found absolutely nothing. Eventually, the excitement of his night escapades faded and he grew extremely bored. It was now almost midday and with no food, no sleep, and precious little adrenaline left to sustain him, Carter was fading fast. He collapsed onto a nearby bench and was just beginning to lazily contemplate his next meal when a bright flash split the gloom apart and abruptly startled him out of his reverie.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 **

Malcolm burst into the Command Centre, strode purposefully over to the window and stared out, as if making sure the inside weather looked the same as the outside. Jim, sitting at his desk, hadn't even flinched when the researcher whirlwind had arrived. Now, he looked up at Malcolm, who was still staring out at the horizon in anticipation.

"THERE!"

The exclamation was so loud, he surprised himself, and Jim jumped irritably.

"Malcolm, do you have to-"

"Electric storm!" Malcolm exclaimed triumphantly as he turned to Jim and came over to stand in front of the desk. "I knew it! My predictions are always accurate, though goodness knows I wish I was wrong this time."

He glanced back toward the window anxiously as a gentle breeze swirled through.

"We're in for it. And with it will come another drenching .." He shook his head as the patter of soft rain started up from outside again. ".. which has already begun."

Jim finally put his Plex down with an air of resignation. First Mira and Carter's wild conspiracy theories and now this.

"Well, are all the flood shields up?"

"No!" Malcolm leaned on the desk opposite Jim. "That's why I'm here!"

Jim stared at him.

"Then I suggest you find Lucas and get on with it!"

"But that's just it, Jim!" Malcolm raised his hands in an expression of the futility of his endeavours. "He's disappeared! I can't _find_ him anywhere!"

At this, Jim's tolerant expression faded, giving way to a more serious one.

"What do you mean, "he's disappeared"?"

"What do you think I mean?! He's gone! Vanished!"

"Well, where is he then?!"

Malcolm snorted indignantly.

"Do I look like the one with all the answers?!" He immediately appeared to reconsider his position and shrugged. "You know what, never mind."

Jim shot a look at him, but the point fell uncontested as a deep rumble of distant thunder suddenly shook the Command Centre around them. Illuminated momentarily by another bright flash that seemed to come right into the room, Jim stood up and made his way out the back.

"Come with me. Quickly."

The next few minutes of Lucas-hunting on the remaining functional security screens perhaps inevitably turned up nothing. Lucas really was gone. After completing his third search of the system feeds, Jim stood back and ran a hand through his hair.

"Unbelievable."

"What?"

"He's not here."

Malcolm shot such a comically dull expression at his superior that Jim had to resist the urge to laugh.

"That's what I've been saying-"

"I know, I know. Then where is he?!"

"Blessed if I know." Malcolm wandered back out to the window as another flash of distant lightning split the sky. "Getting worse by the minute out there."

"Too many coincidences. Something's going on." Jim muttered to himself and shook his head slowly. "Maybe Mira was right after all .."

Malcolm, his head still hanging out the window, was only half listening.

"So what's the plan now?"

With a last glance at the useless security screens, Jim rejoined Malcolm in the main section of the building, his footsteps drowned out by another crack of thunder.

"I dunno, Malcolm, you're supposed to be the smart one. Can't you figure out some way to control the weather?"

Malcolm extracted himself from the window and slumped down glumly in a nearby chair to wait and see what Jim would do next.

"If only."

Another flash lit up the two figures for a fraction of a second before rapidly vanishing, its absence leaving the room much darker than it had previously appeared. Attempting to blink away the smaller flashes that still echoed in front of his eyes, Jim made his way over to a nearby lantern as he contemplated the situation. Lucas nowhere to be found, Carter bringing reports of Hooper .. he wouldn't, surely .. not after all this time .. would he?

Deep in thought, Malcolm's bark of warning came too late to stop him from plowing through an unsuspecting coffee table in his path. Swallowing his irritation as pain radiated from his shin, Jim reached up for the lantern. Malcolm wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Why is it so dark?" Jim grumbled as he waved a hand over it to turn it on. "Morning broke hours ago."

"You got that last part right anyway." Malcolm muttered into the void.

Jim turned with a frown.

"What?"

"Morning." Malcolm repeated helpfully. "It's broken. It's not .. working properly."

".. oh."

Unable to sit still for long, Malcolm sprang back to the window as another distant rumble called to him. When he turned back, Jim was reaching for his walkie-talkie.

"Reilly, come in. It's Jim."

"Commander?"

"I need you to come to the Command Centre as soon as possible. Bring Mira."

"Yes, sir. On my way."

"Oh, and Reilly? Keep it to yourself. The less people that know about this, the better. We don't want to start a panic."

"Yes, sir. Over and out."

Malcolm frowned as Jim replaced his radio.

"What has Mira got to do with this?"

"That, my dear Malcolmus, is what I'm hoping to find out."

* * *

"Think anyone's missed us yet?"

There was no response. Truth be told, he hadn't really expected one. No one had spoken for the last hour or so, and the silence had grown almost as oppressing as the humidity. Lucas glanced sideways at his companions. Now that he could actually see them clearly, he was beginning to realise just how rough the night had been on them. Skye and Deborah were soaked, mud-splattered, bruised, exhausted, and thoroughly disheartened. Even the fact that they were nearing the safety of their home didn't appear to bring them any joy. Lucas doubted he looked much better, but at least he still had his wits about him. His companions were beginning to take on the essence of the undead.

Just then, Deborah slipped in the mud and went down on one knee. Lucas and Skye immediately appeared on either side of her to help her up. When she seemed to have found her feet, they released her and drifted away once more, continuing to trudge along lethargically. No one acknowledged the incident. No one said a word.

Now that the storm was coming up behind them, an occasional clap of thunder would make them jump, startling them out of their waking dreams for just a moment. In the back of their minds, they had a vague idea of trying to beat the oncoming storm home, but they had been walking and walking for so long. Deep down, the weariest parts of them were beginning to believe they would never reach their destination. The brief recession of the rain had lifted their spirits temporarily, and their pace had quickened for a short while, but the morning had remained as gloomy as ever and the miserable drizzle had soon returned.

The world was still oddly dark for what must have been nearing midday. As the rain fell lightly again, the trees around them began to be buffeted by intermittent gusts of wind. Skye and Lucas huddled close on either side of Deborah, trying their best to shield her from the thrashing. The ground was slippery enough without the wild gusts trying to shove you over. As the trees swayed and shook with the howling screech of the wind far above, the world grew darker still. A blinding flash of light assaulted them as they finally stepped out of the thinning forest. A deafening roar of thunder quickly followed suit, as though it was competing with the lightning and wind for ultimate damage.

Emerging from the shelter of the trees, they stood at the edge for a moment and assessed their situation. The storm was practically upon them, but they were close. If they hurried, they could make it. Struggling up the remainder of the low hill, they reached the top and overlooked the valley. It was mostly mud by now, mud and sludge .. but beyond it ..

An odd noise that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh broke from Skye as they finally caught sight of the fence.

* * *

Malcolm glared at the roof as another growl of thunder reverberated around the room.

"Mother Nature hates us at the moment."

"Something weird's going on, Malcolm." Jim was frowning at his Plex, quickly flicking from one feed to the next, but still finding nothing of use. "If Hooper somehow snuck in last night, he left no trace at all. If he didn't, where is he? For that matter, where's Lucas? I don't like it .."

Malcolm spluttered.

"YOU don't like it?! How am I supposed to get the remaining shields up by myself?!"

Jim continued to stare at the screen and didn't even look up when Mira and Reilly blew in.

"You'll have to manage."

"Wow." Reilly, having been thrown about like a leaf in the wind, leaned on the back of a chair panting. Mira by contrast seemed relatively unscathed. She came to stand in front of Jim's desk in the usual fashion, waiting to be informed of the reason for her summons. When he didn't acknowledge her, she grew tired of waiting and raised an eyebrow.

"Well?"

Jim opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a crackle from his handheld radio.

"Sir? It's Curran. We've got incoming."

Jim held out an apologetic hand to Mira and frowned, raising the handheld to his face.

"Curran. Incoming what?"

"Three people. Approaching the gate. Hold on .. they're ours, sir!"

Reilly and Malcolm exchanged a quizzical glance as Jim's bewildered frown deepened and he rose from his chair.

"Sorry, Curran, repeat. _Who_ are they?"

* * *

The tower guards stared incredulously at Skye, Deborah, and Lucas as they approached the gate. Damp, dirty, bedraggled, and exhausted, the small group looked as though they had just arrived from another planet. In the distance, behind the fence, they could just glimpse Jim and Malcolm running down the Command Centre steps two by two as the gate began to rise.

Inside the safety of the colony at last, all three travellers were suddenly having to fight to stay upright. After their long walk and even longer night, even the wet colony mud underneath their feet seemed inviting.

Suddenly Jim was in front of them.

"What's happened? Where have you been?!"

There was no answer. Jim waited as the members of the small group exchanged a couple of bemused glances. Where to begin? The thought of having to explain themselves was almost more exhausting than the journey had been. Finally, Skye decided to attempt the humorous approach.

"Oh, you know, just .. hanging around."

A glare from Lucas told her she'd said the wrong thing. In that instant even her mother looked sorry to be associated with her. Skye winced.

".. sorry."

"For what exactly?" Jim looked even more confused, if that were possible. "Where were you?"

A sudden boom of thunder drowned out any attempt at an explanation they might have made. Jim cast an apprehensive glance at the sky and decided to let the matter drop for the moment. He'd hear them out when they weren't in imminent danger of being blown directly into the eye of the storm.

"Gonna pour in a minute. You better come inside and sit down."

No one disagreed.

As Malcolm helped Deborah up the stairs to the Command Centre, Jim followed with Skye and Lucas. Mira and Reilly had remained waiting at the railing. Now they watched the small procession curiously and followed them inside, just as the heavens broke open with a blinding crack. For a moment, no one could hear themselves think. Once the doors and windows had been shut against the rain, and the three newcomers had been seated, Jim pulled his chair around and sat down himself. He examined them for a moment in silence, frowning when he noticed Skye's head wound.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded slowly.

"I'm fine. Just a scratch."

He smiled a little.

"Well, knowing you, I'm sure the other guy looks a lot worse."

Skye grimaced.

"I'd say that's almost a certainty at this point."

Hooper's final look of horror suddenly flew up in front of her face. She closed her eyes to try and shut him out, but it did little to help the situation. As she opened her eyes again, the world began to wobble on its axis. Skye came unsteadily to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I think I'm gonna be sick."

She moved to the front door and tried to open it. It was shut fast. In desperation, she yanked hard at it. The movement of the door giving way combined with the force of the wind rushing in again almost knocked her backwards, but she managed to keep her feet and disappeared outside. As the wind slammed the door shut again, Jim rose to follow her, motioning for Deborah to stay sitting. When he reached the door, he glanced back at Reilly quickly.

"Get Elisabeth."

The Sergeant nodded briefly and disappeared out the side entrance. Malcolm, suddenly left in charge of the strange gathering, exchanged an awkward glance with Mira before clasping his hands together and addressing the others.

"Tea?"

As Jim stepped outside, it didn't take long for him to find Skye. She was hanging over the railing a few feet away, holding onto it for dear life. She didn't look as though she had been sick after all, but she certainly didn't look any better. What he could see of her face was an unnatural shade of pale grey. He closed the door gently behind him and joined her at the railing. For a few minutes, they didn't talk, seeming content to just lean on the railing and watch the storm clouds roll in as the thunder and lightning grew more aggressive. Finally, Skye found her voice and spoke up shakily.

"It was horrible."

Jim's curiosity was growing ever more unbearable by the minute, but he avoided the urge to grill her and put an arm around her shaking shoulders instead.

"You're alright now. You're safe."

"I'm not so sure." She shook her head, glancing up fearfully. "What if it comes back?"

Jim tried to understand, but of course, he had very little idea of what she was actually referring to. He decided to question her as gently as possible.

"Skye, what if what comes back? What was it?"

Skye stared at him helplessly, wishing she could somehow telepathically communicate her memory of the events into Jim's mind so that she wouldn't have to find the words to describe the nightmare. After a few seconds of silence, Jim stepped back and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Here, how bout we go inside and listen to what the others have to say. Hm?"

Skye nodded dumbly, but managed to push herself away from the railing when Jim held the door open for her. Pretty soon, she found herself sitting back in her chair inside the Command Centre again, with the rain continuing to pound overhead. Malcolm gently pushed a warm cup of tea into her hands and retreated, nodding as he caught her grateful smile.

Once he had retaken his seat, Jim folded his hands together and waited, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"I think you better start from the beginning."

Falteringly at first, the story was told, often in fragmented sections that took some difficulty figuring out. Jim often had to stop them gently and ask for clarification. Eventually, however, all the pieces were put together and the events of the previous night were more or less understood. Elisabeth had arrived at some point in the middle and had cleaned and sprayed the various scratches they had acquired on the journey as they talked. When her task was complete, she had retreated, leaning on the edge of Jim's chair to wait out the rest of the story. A small scar would remain on Skye's head, but it would barely be noticeable. The smaller scrapes had been rendered invisible. The healing spray was wonderful stuff.

".. and eventually, we ended up back here."

Lucas finished with a sigh, as if the story had been told a hundred times over and he was sick of hearing it. Jim nodded and leaned back in his chair thoughtfully.

"So no more Hooper."

It was more of a statement than a question. As such, he wasn't surprised when he didn't receive a reply. Not for the first time, he glanced down at the large rifle sitting in Deborah's lap.

"As for that .. are you happy to relinquish it without a fight, or am I going to have to put you in the Brig?"

Deborah stared at him.

"Is it that dangerous?"

Jim chuckled.

"It's definitely not civilian issue. That's one powerful weapon, Deb. I have to say, you've got good taste."

Deborah smiled as she handed it over, suddenly surprised at how vulnerable she felt without the weight of the heavy rifle in her arms. Jim took it and handed it to Reilly.

"We'll put it in the armoury under lock and key. It'll be safe there. And the next time we're under attack, you can come get it and we'll let you single-handedly defend the colony. How about that?"

Deborah laughed, but shook her head.

"Thank you for the kind offer, but I think my gun-wielding days are over."

Jim grinned at her and then turned to Lucas, the grin suddenly disappearing.

"Now for you .."

Lucas had tried his best to hide the pistol strapped to his waist, but it was difficult to conceal a weapon in a belt holster. The best he could do was turn it around so that it was behind him, but that only made it all the more obvious that he was trying to hide it. He tried anyway, raising his eyebrows at Jim.

"Hm?"

Jim glanced at Malcolm, who for a fleeting moment had looked as though he was trying not to laugh. He turned back to the young physicist and held out a hand.

"Gun or I'll get Mira to search you."

"Gun .. oh!"

Jim threw an amused glance at Mira as Lucas suddenly 'remembered' the gun at his back. He turned it around and unclipped it.

"Must've slipped."

"Must've." Jim agreed, and motioned for it once again. Lucas regretfully handed it over.

"You sure I can't-"

"Not a chance."

"But what if I-"

"Nope."

Lucas shrugged and leaned back in his seat, suddenly seeming to care very little about the subject after all. As Jim handed that gun to Reilly as well, Skye turned to Malcolm.

"Will the Titanoboa .. thing .. come near the colony, do you think?"

Malcolm considered the question, but after keeping Skye in suspense for a few seconds, he finally shook his head.

"I wouldn't think so. We haven't seen it before. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say it wandered near the Falls looking for food, maybe brought in by the floods, and it's just as likely to wander away when the water recedes."

Skye nodded slowly as Elisabeth stood.

"If we're done here for now .." She waited for Jim's nod of confirmation and continued. ".. I'd like to take you three back to the Infirmary with me and get you checked out properly. It won't take long, I promise, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

She received a few reluctant nods, and as Reilly opened the door and the wind rushed in, Jim reached inside the supply closet again. He resurfaced quickly, looking pleased with himself and mentioning something about "all this modern technology and there's still no substitute for the ancient umbrella", mostly for Malcolm's benefit. The well-placed shot got through, judging by the irritated look the head researcher was trying valiantly to conceal.

As the small group followed Elisabeth outside, Lucas was stopped by a firm hand on his arm. He turned to see Mira staring at his face searchingly.

"You alright?"

He met her eyes just as calmly, knowing it was useless to try and bluff his way through. Mira continued to watch him as he nodded slowly.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

She was silent for a moment as though she was making her own assessment, then she nodded as well and released him, apparently satisfied. He threw a sideways smile at her and turned to follow the others.

The remaining four under the shelter of the Command Centre roof watched from the railing as the colourful umbrellas bobbed away through the rain toward the Infirmary. Mira and Reilly left soon afterwards, discussing the new developments amongst themselves. Finally, Jim turned to go back inside and continue his much-interrupted schedule for the day, pausing to address Malcolm as an afterthought.

"Keep this to yourself. No one else needs to know. I suppose we can thank our lucky stars that barely anyone was around the markets to see it."

"Sure." Malcolm shook his head at the pouring rain. "But we still have a bigger problem."

When Jim didn't ask what it was, the chief science officer was forced to continue.

"How am I supposed to get the shields up in time now?!"

"I'm sure you'll think of something, Malcolm."

As Jim stepped through the doorway, he found himself shadowed closely by the person he'd rather intended to leave outside.

"You don't understand. I can't do them all myself! It's impossible!"

"Malcolm .." Jim pinched the bridge of his nose as he reached his desk. "It's been a really weird morning. Couldn't you just try-"

"Jim." Malcolm sounded like he was trying to explain something to a small child, the particular tone of voice that never failed to grate on Jim's nerves. "With no one to help me, there's just no way they'll be up in time. The floods will ruin the houses. The colonists will be homeless. I'm stating a fact .. what?"

Jim raised an eyebrow, blinking doubtfully at Malcolm.

"I think I just solved your shield problem."

Malcolm stared at him suspiciously.

"How? I've thought of everything."

For the first time that morning, Jim grinned.

"There is one person we haven't tried .."

* * *

Instead of leading the way into the Infirmary, Elisabeth stopped at the shed.

"Now, forgive me, I know you've been through a lot and you just want to go home, but .." She eyed them critically. ".. the fact of the matter is, you're all filthy, and I don't want to make more work for my already overworked staff, so wait here for a moment."

She disappeared around the corner and came back seconds later with an armful of clean hospital gowns.

"You're going to use the shed as a dressing room and put these on. Then come inside and you can lie down. I'll give you a quick scan and you can finally go home and get some rest. Okay?"

She raised her eyebrows at her unhappy patients, but they simply nodded. Elisabeth gestured for Skye to go first and then retreated inside to go set up the beds. A few minutes later, Skye wandered into the small cubicle, looking exceedingly uncomfortable in the thin sheet of material. Once she was inside, Elisabeth drew the curtains and patted a nearby bed.

"Hop up and relax. I'm afraid I can't offer a massage, but I did ask my new nurse to bring in a snack for you. She should be here in a minute."

Skye smiled wearily as she pulled herself up onto the bed with a groan.

"Thanks."

Elisabeth frowned as she swiped through the settings on the holographic bed display.

"Where does it hurt?"

Skye snorted quietly as she lay down.

"Everywhere."

"Were you hit anywhere? Pushed over? Pulled, twisted?"

Skye watched her grimly.

"All of the above. It's mostly my head though."

"Does it still hurt?"

"Throbs a little."

"Right, well once the scan's completed and I can rule out any serious injuries, you can take a painkiller for it. I didn't want to give you one earlier just in case .."

Skye nodded, but didn't respond. She'd been a nurse's assistant for long enough to know how these things worked. Besides, she was growing very sleepy. Her eyes felt gritty and heavy, and her limbs felt like lead. As the curtain parted and the new nurse stepped in, Elisabeth gestured for her to be quiet. Skye's head had fallen sideways and the bed display indicated that she was now sleeping. Elisabeth let her rest while the bed continued to monitor her vital signs. As the scan reached about halfway, it suddenly glitched and flickered uncertainly. Elisabeth frowned at the fuzzy display as it jumped forward and backward and then proceeded as normal. Odd. Very odd.

Deborah and Lucas were sitting in the waiting room by this time, feeling very uncomfortable and trying their best not to meet each other's gaze. It was probably this awkwardness that was keeping them awake. If the situation had been different, Elisabeth could very well have come out to find the two dirty patients sleeping peacefully on the waiting room chairs. As it was, she found them almost jumping out of their chairs with relief when she approached.

"Skye's scan is done. I left her with one of my nurses. She's going to keep an eye on her. In a few minutes, she'll give her something to eat, but everything looks like it'll heal with time. She just needs rest. She's fallen asleep, poor thing - Skye, not the nurse." Elisabeth smiled apologetically at them. "Who's next?"

They glanced at each other. Manners would dictate that Lucas let Deborah go first, but he was really quite desperate to get away from the curious eyes of the two other patients nearby. Elisabeth waited for a minute and then laughed.

"How about this - Deborah, you take the bed in Skye's room. We'll move her to the chair and make her eat something. Lucas, you take the one next door and we'll monitor you both. How's that?"

Deborah and Lucas nodded their agreement. Anything was better than waiting around here. As Lucas was established in the other room with Ogawa keeping an eye on him, Skye was woken and made to drag her sleepy body off the bed so that her mother could be helped on. She was seated in a nearby chair and handed a small plate.

"Eat." Elisabeth ordered after Skye had sat there for several minutes just staring at the food in front of her. "You'll feel better."

A few minutes later, the curtains divided and Ogawa's head appeared.

"Dr. Shannon, I think there's something wrong with the display. It's working fine now, but it cut out for a few seconds. Should I run the scan again?"

Elisabeth frowned.

"Has it showed up anything so far?"

The nurse shook her head.

"Everything seems normal."

"Just finish up the scan then. A similar thing happened to this one, but it's worked alright since." As Ogawa nodded her understanding, Elisabeth shook her head and glanced back at her own screen. "That's two beds in 10 minutes. It's not good enough. We're running at half capacity as it is. Remind me to mention it to Jim."

Ogawa nodded again and was about to leave, but the new nurse grinned at her.

"Ooh, someone's in trouble .."

"Becca." Elisabeth had turned to the younger girl with a solemn expression as Ogawa vanished into the other room. "There are some clothes that have been left in the shed. They need to be cleaned."

Becca opened her mouth to protest, but Elisabeth held up a hand for silence.

"I'm not finished. They're quite dirty. Don't wash them with the others. Wash them separately."

She waited for a moment. When the girl made no move to act on the instructions, Elisabeth raised her eyebrows.

"Do you understand?"

Becca nodded glumly and walked slowly toward the entrance, casting a last forlorn glance around the room before parting the curtains and walking through. Elisabeth smiled to herself and turned back to Deborah.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Tired." Deborah answered. "But nothing worth mentioning."

She glanced pointedly in Skye's direction for a moment. Her daughter had eaten some of her food, but was now falling asleep once again where she sat. Elisabeth nodded quietly as Deborah turned back to her. When the bed began to flicker with an alert, she quickly swiped it away.

Finally, the scans were completed and a Rover was sent for to take the patients home. As she stepped up into the vehicle, a vague connection was triggered in Skye's memory of another trip home from the Infirmary, quite a while ago now, only then the pouring rain had been falling snow. The storm hadn't lessened - in fact, it looked to be getting worse. It was now midday, but remained as dark as ever. Strong gusts of wind pushed against the sides of the Rover as they drove along, and several of the market sails had been ripped already and now flapped wildly in the breeze.

As they neared Lucas' house, he glanced into the back of the vehicle, where Skye and Deborah were slumped wearily against the seats.

"We can take them home first. I don't mind."

Dunham threw a weird look at his passenger as he pulled up outside the building.

"We're already here. Now go on. Run inside and let me get on with the deliveries."

Seeing as Dunham looked to be preparing to throw him out the door himself, Lucas had no choice but to exit the vehicle and dart under the shelter of his roof. He watched the Rover slide away in the mud and stood for a while looking out at the rain, finding that now he was home, he really didn't want to go inside after all. Finally, however, he shook his head, took a deep breath, and forced himself to open the door.

* * *

"Ahh .. nah. Abso-blimmin-lutely not."

"Come on, Boylan."

Jim leaned on the bar, smiling pleasantly at the man across from him. Boylan threw his dishrag over his shoulder and folded his arms, unmoved but evidently enjoying the novelty of having the Commander on his doorstep asking for a favour.

"Why is it that I only see you when you're having some sort of crisis?"

"You could be a hero! Think how grateful the colonists will be to you for helping save their homes. It'd be good for business!"

"No." Boylan smiled back, glancing from Jim to Malcolm pleasantly. "You see, Commander, it's like this. Ever since I lost my previous employee .." He cast a meaningful look at Jim, as though he'd dragged the boy away from the Bar himself. ".. I've had to do all the work myself. The new guy is not all there, if you ask me .."

As though "the new guy" had heard them, a crash came from the bar. They all looked around to see a young man grappling with a series of glasses and smiling apologetically at them.

"Rooney! Get your act together!"

"Nothing's broken!"

".. today." Boylan added darkly, as he turned back to the other two. "Look, Commander, I'm not doing a single thing for you. Find yourself someone else."

"Colonists houses will be underwater very shortly!"

"Not my problem. Where do you think's gonna get flooded first? HERE. We just reopened after last week. I have to do business while I can."

"Forget it. This is pointless!"

As Malcolm made to walk away, Jim put out a hand.

"Wait. If you help us out, you'll have the full support of the security team at your disposal when the cleanup rolls around. The Bar will be a priority. You have my word."

Boylan seemed to consider it for a moment, but then dashed their rising hopes again.

"Hmm .. not good enough."

"The nerve-"

Jim stopped Malcolm from abandoning the negotiations for a second time.

"Well? What else do you want?"

"The purple hybrid fruits they're concocting down in the agdep - I want 25 of them, unbruised and ripe for the picking. Then I might consider it."

Malcolm snorted, looking appalled.

"Are you out of your mind?! Those fruits are being used to make experimental medicines. They're essential ingredients in possible cures for currently incurable diseases! Do you know how long they take to produce?! Out of the question."

Jim folded his arms and shook his head.

"I can't get those for you."

"He can." Boylan watched Malcolm expectantly for a moment. "Time's ticking. What's it gonna be, Doc?"

Malcolm shook his head in dismay.

"I .. I can't .."

The Bartender turned away dismissively.

"Then I'm sorry I couldn't help you. Rooney-"

"Wait." Malcolm shifted uncomfortably, hating the position he'd been put in. "I _suppose_ I could .. probably get you 10. IF you come right away."

"12."

"Done."

Boylan smiled at Jim and threw his rag onto the bench nearby.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Commander."

Jim and Malcolm exchanged a look as the bartender came around and headed toward the door, not even waiting for his companions.

"Rooney, I'm leaving you in charge. Try not to burn the place down."

Rooney smiled up at him.

"Yes, sir!"

At Jim's prompting, Malcolm hurried after Boylan. As he caught up, he turned to him sympathetically.

"I wouldn't worry. It's raining so much, I doubt he could burn it down if he tried."

Boylan smiled flatly.

"If anyone can do it .."

Just then, another crash came from somewhere behind them. Boylan raised his eyes to Heaven with a pained expression.

"I'm not even gonna look."

* * *

Deborah sat down on the edge of Skye's bed.

"Comfortable?"

Her daughter smiled up at her.

"Mom, you really don't need to do this. I know you're tired too, and it's not like I'm 5."

"I know." Deborah smiled and pushed Skye's damp hair out of her face. "But if I'm being honest, I don't mind the company either."

"I would invite you in, but it's not a big bed. You'd probably end up on the floor."

Deborah shouted with laughter and shook her head.

"Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine. As soon as you're asleep, I'll go to bed and I'll be out like a light. Trust me. Now close your eyes."

Skye smiled and did as she was instructed, finding herself drifting off almost immediately. Deborah remained for a few minutes, until the sound of Skye's soft breathing began to put her to sleep as well. If she didn't make a move soon, she _would_ be on the floor. As she stood quietly, the sound of thunder shook the house. Skye stirred a little, but didn't wake up. Her mother smiled and thankfully sought out the comfort of her own bed.

* * *

Hours passed, and the afternoon sank into night. Lucas, alone in his own house, had cleaned all of the jungle grime off and then spent most of the afternoon going back and forth from the lounge room to the porch, unable to settle down. The second he had stepped through his front door, his tiredness had vanished and he felt as though he would never need to sleep again. When the early night fell, he had tried to convince himself to go to sleep once more, but instead of finding his room, he had gone to the fridge and spent ten minutes searching through the sparse contents. When he finally closed the fridge door, he came out empty handed anyway. Nothing seemed appealing enough to waste the effort eating. In an attempt to put off going to bed as long as possible, he decided to go to the door and take one last look outside. After all, it wasn't very often one witnessed a storm of this caliber. He never quite made it back out however. As he put his hand on the doorknob, an unusually loud crack of thunder startled him and he jumped, remaining frozen for a few seconds with his hand still in place on the knob. Finally, he gave up any idea of exiting the house, instead turning and leaning on the door, hugging his sleeves to himself. He was so tired. Why couldn't he sleep? Why couldn't he stop shaking? Tightening his grip on his arms, he slid down the door slowly until he was sitting on the floor. He could have gone to bed, of course, could have eaten something, could have gotten up .. but he didn't. While Deborah and Skye slept their shock and exhaustion off safe in their beds, Lucas would spend most of the long night in the same spot, leaning on the door, illuminated intermittently by the white light bursting in through the window.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"I'm so sick of rain! I'm sick of being wet! I'm sick of tramping through puddles! I'm sick of having to yell above the racket on the roof! I'm sick of it! Sick, sick, sick!"

Malcolm stormed angrily into the Lab the next day, throwing his boots off in the process and proceeding to squelch around the room in his soaked socks.

"Where's Lucas?"

Maddy looked up from her plant.

"Not here yet."

"Unbelievable."

"Do you .. need help with something?"

"No." Malcolm retorted as he slumped down into his chair and began swiping madly on the closest screen. Maddy raised her eyebrows and returned to her flora samples.

"Okay .."

A few minutes later, she finished and looked up again. Malcolm seemed to have calmed down a little and was now reading a recent report. She decided to venture a question.

"Soo .. did those flood shields go up?"

"Yes!" Malcolm dropped the tablet and glared at her indignantly, as though she had just asked him if he'd remembered to do his hair that morning. "They're all done, thanks for asking. Now if only my assistants would show up to work .."

He turned back to his tablet in a huff and Maddy resisted the urge to point out that one of his assistants had not only arrived on time, but had beaten him to work. Somehow that didn't seem like the sort of thing he needed to hear. She moved to the kitchen bench instead, trying to make her voice as light and friendly as possible.

"Coffee?"

Malcolm glanced up at her, a wave of apologetic remorse crossing his face. She reminded him so much of Elisabeth sometimes. It was difficult to maintain his annoyed demeanour when he felt bad for even snapping at her. The whole circumstance was fairly inconvenient, really. He turned his attention back to his tablet and answered in a more humble tone of voice.

"Yes. Thank you."

* * *

Malcolm's other assistant was, at that particular moment, busy sloshing around the front of the colony in his boots, holding an umbrella over his head carelessly and watching the ripples float away from him on the dirty water. Tired of the night, Lucas had risen with the sun and wandered out to the markets, where the stall keepers were almost ready to open for the day. Seriously, when did they get up?! He'd begged a biscuit from an old lady he knew and proceeded to meander around the town centre in the rain, occasionally pausing to hold an umbrella over some grateful party who needed both of their hands for a job. The storm had blown away, but the rain kept on coming, and the valley beyond the front gate was already beginning to fill up again like a giant fishbowl. Lucas found himself hoping it wouldn't become home to any giant variety of aquatic life.

The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and the markets gradually grew busier. It seemed the dismal circumstances weren't keeping many people away. A few men were perched on ladders around the place helping to repair torn sails. Despite Jim's best efforts to keep the events of the previous day under wraps, Lucas found more strange looks being thrown his way than usual, and began to wonder just how much they'd been told. Every now and then, an open-ended remark was made in his hearing and both parties would pause the conversation to watch him, as though they were waiting for him to jump in and explain the facts of the matter to them. He did not.

He'd just managed to charm a free kebab out of the hands of a nearby saleswoman when he spotted a familiar face in the crowd - technically, by now, they were all familiar faces; it wasn't a big colony - but this one was different. This one was up to something. He ate his kebab in silence, watching like a hawk from the other side of the marketplace as Deborah flitted in and out of the sea of people. She was casually moving from one market stall to the next, slowly making her way in the direction of the Infirmary. He finished his kebab and began to chew mindlessly on the stick. She was trying to hide something. What was she up to?

* * *

"Deborah."

The unexpected voice beside her made Deborah jump a little, but by the time she looked up at him, she had carefully regained her composure and was smiling once more.

"Lucas. I didn't hear you."

"So it seems." He threw his kebab stick away and put his hand in his pocket, walking along beside her and holding the umbrella up above them both, though she had one of her own already.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular. Just out for a walk."

Lucas nodded agreeably.

"Where's Skye?"

"Back at home. She's still in bed. I figured I'd let her sleep in, so I left her a note on the bench. Thought you'd be sleeping too."

"Nah, I've never really been the sleeping-in type."

"Mhm."

Deborah glanced around at their surroundings with seemingly no particular target in mind, but shortly afterwards, she turned and made her way back into the centre of the markets, picking up a shell necklace from a nearby stall. She looked up at her human shadow with a laughing expression.

"You're welcome to stay with me, but I'm warning you, it won't be the most fascinating experience."

Lucas smiled at the necklace and picked up one of his own.

"I'm in no hurry."

He walked around with her for the next 15 minutes. When they reached the same stall for the third time, Deborah glanced back more obviously toward the Infirmary. She had to shake him fast and slip in to see Elisabeth. Skye would be up soon. She may even be up already. How could she get rid of him?

"How is the shield project progressing?"

Lucas frowned.

"I .. don't know, actually."

Deborah laughed.

"Well, shouldn't you know? I thought Dr. Wallace wanted to get them up yesterday."

"I suppose he did." Lucas thought for a moment. The truth was, in all the chaos of the last couple of days, he'd completely forgotten about the shields. Malcolm probably did need his help. Was he expecting him to take the day off or was he over there waiting for him to arrive? He realised they'd never actually discussed it.

"Maybe I should go check in with him just in case."

Deborah nodded.

"Better to be on the safe side. Especially where Malcolm is concerned."

"I suppose you're right." Lucas patted her on the shoulder and began to splish his way back towards the Lab. "Have fun .. shopping."

"Will do."

Deborah watched him disappear into the crowd with an affectionate smile on her face. When she had waited longer than was probably necessary, she said goodbye to the woman behind the stall and moved quickly back towards the Infirmary. She was finally within a few metres of it when an all too familiar voice brought her to an abrupt halt.

"You're sick again, aren't you?"

She turned to see Lucas a few feet behind her.

"How-"

"Went around the back of the Command Centre." Lucas folded his arms as she walked back towards him, balancing his umbrella carefully in between them. "So are you .. sick again?"

"No." Deborah took his elbow and led him away from the majority of the people, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "It's just a routine check. That's all. And you should be at the Lab, not following people around. That's how you get into trouble."

"You were at the Infirmary yesterday." Lucas completely ignored her last statement. "How often do you have these 'routine checks'?"

Deborah sighed and looked once more in the direction of the blue building. It was so close and yet .. so far. She cast a quick glance at the market people and made up her mind.

"Alright, I'll tell you the truth on one condition .."

She hesitated, but Lucas was already shaking his head.

"I can't keep it from her. If there's something wrong with you, she'd want to know."

"She _can't_." There was a hint of desperation in Deborah's voice. "She'd be devastated. I can't do that to her again."

When Lucas stared out into the rain and didn't reply, she smiled a little.

"Please don't tell her you saw me."

"Wait." Lucas put a hand on her arm as she turned to walk away. She looked so tired, and though she hid it extremely well, he could tell she was terrified. He nodded gravely as she watched him. "Sure, Deb. Whatever you say."

She sighed wearily, but looked a little happier.

"Better go in."

Lucas nodded, walking beside her to the Infirmary door. As they reached it, Deborah turned to him again.

"Well, this is my stop."

"Let me know what she says."

Deborah tilted her head up at him.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Lucas hesitated for a moment and then nodded resolutely. Deborah put a hand on his arm.

"Then I won't keep it from you."

"I appreciate that."

He left her in front of the Infirmary and began to walk away. He hadn't gone four steps when a cheerful, slightly squeaky voice pierced the silence behind him. Thankfully, she wasn't talking to him.

* * *

_"Deborah!_ Long time no see!" The blonde woman smiled brightly at Deborah as she reached her. "What has it been, three months?! That's a horrendous amount of time not to see someone in a colony this size!"

Deborah nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, I suppose it has been. How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been in perfect health. Soldiering on, as you do. You know, little old me. But isn't this weather awful? It's enough to just- Oh!" She interrupted herself sharply as she glanced up at the Infirmary door and then back to Deborah, her brows furrowed in concern. "But I do hope _you're_ feeling alright."

Deborah smiled warmly.

"I'm perfectly fine, Margery. I'm just-"

"She's here .. for me." Lucas was suddenly beside Deborah again. "Moral support."

Deborah raised an eyebrow at him, but returned her gaze to the woman in front of her. Margery was staring at Lucas, looking somewhat confused.

"But .. you were walking .. that way."

"Y-"

"Yes. He was." Deborah shook her head at him and then smiled back at Margery. "Truth be told, he was trying to get out of the whole thing. Chickened out at the last minute. Boys are such babies sometimes, aren't they?"

"Oh yes, don't I know it." Margery laughed and shook her own head at Lucas before suddenly frowning. "I hope _you're_ not sick."

"Oh. No." Lucas stumbled. "Just tired. Haven't really slept since .. you know .."

"Oh yes, I heard about that." The market woman suddenly looked very sympathetic. "You poor thing. Awful business."

"Yes." Lucas studied her grimly. "Off you go then. Spread it around. The resident sociopath's having trouble sleeping."

Margery looked startled.

"Oh no, I wouldn't! I take confidences very seriously, you know. Not like .. other people." She muttered, glancing over her shoulder severely at a nearby stall. She turned back to Lucas with a friendly smile.

"It's our little secret. Not a soul will hear it from me."

He was silent for a moment and then attempted to muster a smile.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Thank _you_ for trusting me with such a personal matter."

Lucas met Deborah's solemn gaze. Her poker face was astounding, but he could still see a subdued spark of amusement hidden there. The market woman was speaking again.

"Well, I'll let you get back to it! If we stand here much longer, we'll all be soaked to the bone."

Deborah nodded to her gratefully.

"Thank you."

"Good luck with your _business_."

Margery tapped the side of her nose and smiled conspiratorially at them for a moment before turning and trotting away back into the markets. Lucas rolled his eyes to the sky and looked sideways at Deborah. She looked up at him wryly.

"Well, you'd better come in."

* * *

"Zoe. You here?"

"I'm in here!"

Maddy threw her bag on the floor by the bench and wandered into the room she shared with her little sister. Zoe was lying on her bed reading a book. When she saw Maddy, she cast it aside and sat up.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at work!"

"I was." Maddy opened one of her drawers and began rifling through it. "But Dr. Wallace wanted that report from yesterday and I .. forgot to grab it this morning."

She glanced up in Zoe's direction for a moment and grimaced, making the younger girl laugh. Maddy suddenly stood up and looked around.

"Hey, are you home alone?"

"No." Zoe explained. "Josh is in there .. somewhere."

"Somewhere." Maddy repeated with a roll of her eyes, before holding a piece of paper up triumphantly. "Found it!"

"Good job."

Zoe sounded more subdued than usual, and Maddy turned to her with a frown.

"What's up?"

Zoe smiled a little and shook her head.

"Nothing."

"Come on .." Maddy put her research paper on her own bed and flopped down beside her little sister. "You can tell me. Remember when you were staying with those nice people near the river? And I'd come and visit and you'd tell me all about the weird noises next door. You can tell me anything, no matter how .. strange."

They exchanged a look and Zoe giggled softly.

"I still think they were mad scientists performing experiments on all the kids they looked after. Probably turned them into cockroaches so they could keep them in a jar and feed them less."

Maddy nodded soberly.

"You're probably right." She grinned and nudged her sister. "So what's going on?"

Zoe shrugged.

"Not much. I'll just miss you, that's all, when you get married and leave."

Maddy felt a stab of guilt at the melancholy expression on Zoe's face.

"Oh. Well, I'll miss you too. But people get married, you know? That's what they do. That's what Mom and Dad did."

"I know." The thought didn't seem to be comforting Zoe much.

"And you like Mark, right? He'll actually be your brother-in-law now. That means you can steal the baby potatoes off his plate any time you want!"

Zoe smiled a little, but remained quiet.

"One day you'll get married too, you know. And you'll see why I want to go live with Mark." Maddy racked her brain desperately for something else to say that might help. She hoped the conversation was helping Zoe, because she was feeling worse by the minute. "And-And I love Mark, and .."

Zoe looked up at her and smiled, accepting her circumstances pragmatically.

"I know you have to go. It's okay."

Maddy raised her eyebrows doubtfully at the little girl.

"Really?"

Zoe nodded reassuringly, then her eyes widened and she sat up straighter.

"But can I come and stay with you sometimes?"

Maddy threw an arm around her sister.

"Of _course_ you can."

"Me too?!"

Josh suddenly appeared out of nowhere and charged into the room, throwing himself dramatically on the bed. Zoe squealed and flung herself out of the way as he landed where she'd just been sitting. When she'd regained her balance and somehow managed to stop Zoe from plummeting head-first onto the floor, Maddy slapped him with the back of her hand.

"You were eavesdropping!"

Josh shrugged and stretched himself out on the bed, putting his hands behind his head.

"Maybe I was. Maybe I-Oof!" The remaining breath flew out of him as his youngest sister landed hard on his chest.

"Zoe! You're getting too big for that." Josh complained with a groan.

"Serves you right!"

Maddy laughed as Zoe jumped up and down a few times for good measure. Josh sat up suddenly and Zoe clung to him tightly, narrowly avoiding falling on the floor for a second time.

"Where are you going?"

"Out. I'm sick of being bullied by you lot."

"Ohh, no you don't." Maddy and Zoe exchanged a mischievous grin. "You're not getting away that easy."

"What-" Josh stared at Maddy as her fingers began to move closer to him. "Maddy! No! Don't even think about it!"

He tried to wriggle away, but Zoe's weight was restricting him and Maddy was faster. She laughed in triumph as she helped Zoe hold him down while their fingers began to dig uncomfortably into his ribs.

"Maddy!" Josh squirmed as the tickling grew fiercer. "Dad! Help!"

His sisters laughed mercilessly.

_"Daaaddd!"_

"Dad left for work." Zoe grinned and poked one of her small fingers in between his bottom ribs. "There's no one to save you now!"

"Noooooo!"

Josh managed to wrench a hand free and rapidly fell to tickling Zoe, incapacitating his howling younger sister and throwing her to the other side of the bed. With no assistance, Maddy was soon overpowered as well, and Josh shoved her aside roughly and flew to the door, turning to poke a tongue at his sisters as he disappeared.

"Have fun making the bed!"

Maddy glanced at Zoe as the outside door slammed a moment later, then collapsed backward on the bed with a breathless laugh.

* * *

Thanks to the early hour, the waiting room was almost empty. As Deborah and Lucas took their seats, she looked closely at him.

"You do look tired. How _have_ you slept since we got back?"

Lucas smiled wearily, attempting to look brighter, but unable to erase the dark circles under his eyes.

"It's only been one night. I'm fine."

In truth, when he finally had pulled himself off the floor, he'd only gotten as far as the couch, so terrified of the nightmares that plagued him that he refused to stay in his bedroom for more than a few minutes at a time.

Deborah didn't appear to be buying his story either, but he was saved by Elisabeth's timely appearance at the end of the hall. As she motioned for them to come in, he hesitated. Deborah took a couple of steps and then turned to him with a smile.

"Come on then. Truth be told, I could use a little moral support myself."

He followed happily after her as she entered the end cubicle and the curtain was closed. Elisabeth gestured for them to sit and tapped a few times on her medical tablet. If she had thought Lucas' presence there strange, she didn't mention it.

"Right. I'm just getting up the results of yesterday's scan now and we'll take a look, alright?"

Deborah swallowed the lump of nerves in her throat and nodded. Elisabeth came to stand in front of them and leaned on the medical bed.

"So we can see from these images that your immune system is struggling a little. That's not uncommon for people who have recently recovered from a long-term illness. What I am concerned about is that your body seems to be overcompensating a little and turning to attack it's own good cells. As a result, you've probably been feeling weak, tired, sore, you might feel colder than normal, maybe even a little bit nauseas or uncoordinated, am I right?"

Lucas' frown deepened as Deborah nodded hesitantly.

"All of that."

"Hm." Elisabeth frowned as well. "I'll take some blood and do some further tests, just to be on the safe side, but I wouldn't worry just yet. This might simply be the aftermath of the fever. Very few people survive it, so we haven't really had a chance to study the effects of it."

Deborah glanced at Lucas and he nodded slightly and looked up at Elisabeth.

"I survived it."

Elisabeth raised her eyebrows a little in surprise.

"Then you are one very lucky young man."

She questioned him a little as she took Deborah's blood, taking a few notes on her tablet at the same time. The process didn't take long. A few minutes later and she was pocketing the sample and inviting them to stand.

"I'll have this tested as soon as possible, but like I said, try not to worry, Deb." She squeezed her friend's shoulder as she stood. "Just get some rest! Look after yourself. Your body's still fighting, but you've got to help it as much as you can, okay?"

Deborah nodded dutifully.

"Will do. Thank you, Doctor." She smiled at her moral support, who was still looking more somber than the actual patient. "Come on. Breakfast is on me."

Elisabeth watched calmly as they exited the building. The second they were out of her sight, she pulled Ogawa aside and put the blood sample into her hand.

"I need you to test this one for everything. And Jess .."

The young head nurse watched Elisabeth seriously as the doctor finally allowed a worried frown to crease her forehead.

".. put a rush on it."


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Taylor trudged along slowly, wheezing and panting with the strain of his burden. He was a strong man, but the large carcass he was hauling was very heavy. In death, it was even uglier than in life. The brutish head dragged along the ground, its face frozen in a constant snarl. Every now and then, the sharp teeth would catch the light and glint menacingly. Ordinarily, the former commander would have chosen a much smaller beast to kill and eat, but this one had given him little choice in the matter. It had stupidly insisted on challenging him until he had no other option than to thrust a knife through its skull. Well, no use letting it go to waste. It was a shame really. Deep down, he also was the argumentative type and had started to look forward to their encounters. Eh, such was life.

Another creature, even larger than the first, trailed along behind, its dark scales blending with the soggy colours of the surrounding woods. Every now and then, Taylor would pause to throw a rock at it. The creature would dart away quickly through the wet grass, sending dirty splashes up into the air and then disappearing into the forest .. only to return a second later, never really wandering more than a few metres away. It was surprisingly nimble for a long-legged crocodile. It could easily have overpowered the man it was following, but its focus wasn't really on Taylor. It only had eyes for the large chunk of meat the man was pulling along. It had been stalking Taylor for months and had quickly learned that wherever the man went, the meals were supplied. It was barely necessary to hunt for itself anymore, but the Kaprosuchus would often run off and chase other animals just for the amusement of it. Its large fangs and menacing figure meant that all creatures feared it instinctively, and they were more than right to do so. If it had wanted to, it could have ripped a smaller animal in half without a second thought. But in the end, when it tired of the game, it always tracked down the man again and simply stole its food. The man always ended up with more than he could possibly eat anyway. So the large reptile continued to follow along lazily. He'd get his share soon enough.

Still .. that bloody meat was tempting ..

A few times, he tried to grab the carcass off Taylor and drag it away, but Taylor would turn around and scream at the predator and throw rocks in its face, so it retreated again, crouching down into the long grass and slinking along in silence. There was no harm in biding its time. He always managed to get the man's food sooner or later.

* * *

"Please!" Skye laughed. "I'm practically begging you. There must be something that needs doing. Anything. Please."

Reilly raised an eyebrow sceptically. The pale young woman in front of her didn't look so good in her own personal opinion, but there _was_ still work that needed to be done. Perhaps a sense of normality was what Skye needed.

"Alright, Tate. As it happens, there is something you could do."

Skye nodded with relief.

"Name it!"

She'd woken up late feeling terrible, but the sitting around hadn't taken long to start driving her crazy. Suppressing another wave of nausea, she had headed out in search of her supervisor.

"Here." Reilly pulled a thick device out of the inside pocket of her jacket and handed it to Skye. "The Commander just told me there's been a few .. technical glitches lately. I don't have time to go around and scan the grid points to make sure they're functioning properly. That's where you come in."

Skye accepted the device with a happy nod.

"Sure! No problem."

"You know what to do, right? Click this into the base of the turbine, where the grid panel is, check the numbers are at the right level, the device'll record it, then move on to the next one. That's all you have to do. If I were you, I'd check into the power station first and make sure there've been no noticeable outages. Shannon said there hadn't been any reports, but you know what those power guys are like."

Skye threw a laughing look at her superior.

"Right."

"Good luck! When you're finished, just drop that back in with the power guys and they'll generate an analysis and send it out tomorrow morning. No need to report back to me. The way this day's going, I'll probably be in another unnecessary meeting anyway."

Skye grimaced.

"Good luck."

"You too." Reilly pulled her hood over her head. "Try not to get too wet out there. And please try to keep the water out of the electrical equipment."

Skye saluted as she stepped back, turning away quickly to cover up the resulting jab of nauseating pain in her stomach.

"Will do!"

* * *

"Taylor."

Fighting against his first inclination to run the remainder of the way to the Lab, Lucas slowed down and turned to face the squat old man that had heralded him. The man trotted closer to him and smiled up at him warmly.

"How are you feeling?"

He received a suspicious stare in return, but that didn't seem to bother him too much. He'd been the recipient of suspicious stares all his life. What difference would one more make? Lucas finally seemed to realise he was expecting an answer.

"Fine."

"Good, good." The man leaned forward greedily, raising his thick eyebrows so that he could see more clearly. "Must have been a terrible ordeal for you."

"Sorry?" Lucas murmured politely, raising his own eyebrows.

The other man gestured impatiently with his short arms.

"Yesterday! Well, the other night. Out there in the wilderness."

"I have been out there before." Lucas responded smoothly.

The man tilted his head to the side and crooned gently.

"Yes, of course. But these situations are different, yes?"

It was apparent that the old man didn't have a clue what he was really referring to, and Lucas had very little patience with the gossipy busybodies who spent their days fishing for information about situations they knew nothing about. He opened his mouth to say something that would probably have increased his chances of spending the night in the brig (hey, at least he wouldn't have to spend it pacing around his own dark house), but instead of his prepared answer, a surprised exclamation came out.

"Carter!"

The old man frowned in confusion.

"Carter?"

But Lucas was already a few feet away, starting up a new conversation with a man dressed in shaggy leather and rough handmade jewellery. The little old man cringed in distaste, but followed nonetheless. Lucas shuffled his umbrella to the other hand and stared at Carter curiously.

"What are you doing here?"

The Sixer shrugged.

"I was in the neighbourhood."

Lucas narrowed his eyes.

"And yet, I'm still not convinced. You never just 'drop in' without a reason."

Carter smiled a little, evidently not unhappy with the reputation that seemed to exist around his visits, but before he had a chance to answer, a voice from below chimed in.

"I was just telling .. your friend here how glad we are that he survived the other night."

They stared down at the man for a moment in silence before Carter looked back at Lucas questioningly. The young physicist managed to mouth "help" before the small man's attention was back on him. Carter raised an eyebrow and folded his arms as he looked down at the unwanted third party.

"Well, if he can survive you people, he can survive anything. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a body to bury."

In the shocked silence that followed, Carter smiled briefly and turned away. The small colonist stammered and stuttered at his retreating back.

"Yes. Of course! Good .. Goodbye .."

With a helpless shrug in the old man's direction, Lucas followed the Sixer. When they were out of earshot, he turned to him with a look that was half amusement and half dismay.

"Was that necessary?"

"You wanted him to leave you alone. Done."

Lucas cast a backwards glance at the empty spot where the man had been standing.

"These people don't trust me as it is."

Carter rolled his eyes and shook some of the water out of his dripping hair.

"Look, did you want to be rescued or not?"

When his companion didn't answer, Carter tilted his head sideways and threw a bored expression at him.

"Then stop whining."

* * *

As the day passed, the water continued to rise. By mid-afternoon, it was already approaching the tops of the sandbags that had been left there from the previous onslaught. The fact that the ground was still soaked didn't help the situation. The torrential rain that they had received all day eased at about 2:00, halting the rapid rise of the flood, but the light rain that followed was enough to keep the levels steady. As drenched as the surrounding earth was, there was nowhere for the water to go but up. In the uncharacteristic words of Malcolm Wallace, there was nothing to left to do but wait and pray it didn't come up too much higher. They were in for another tense night.

* * *

Skye wiped a few droplets of water off the small screen of the multimeter as she set off towards her next turbine. She had tried her best to keep the device dry, but as the rain hadn't let up and the water at her feet was fast approaching the grid door height, the task wasn't becoming any easier. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to finish before the water overtook her.

By the time she reached the next turbine, she found she had to pause and lean on the fence momentarily to catch her breath. Her heart felt like it had suddenly grown wings and was trying to fly out of her chest. Was she really that unfit? All she wanted right as this moment was to teleport home and crawl back into bed. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her vision. To her great relief, the fog melted away. Just a few turbines left. That wouldn't take long. So far, none had indicated a problem.

She bent down, clicked the device into place, and waited for the beep to indicate the measurement had been taken. The whole routine had become second nature by now. When the shrill chirping reached her ears, she checked the reading - predictably normal, removed the device and stood up. Too quickly, as it turns out. Her vision clouded again as the world began to buck and spin. Her internal gyroscope felt like it had been flipped upside-down this time and she had to grab onto the fence again in order to keep her footing. Not good. The device's screen began to swim and flash in and out of focus. She closed her eyes tightly, leaning her head down onto the wooden crossbeam. A fierce wave of nausea forced its way up into her throat as her shaking knees finally buckled. Clinging to the fence helplessly, Skye let out a sharp cry as the cold chill of the floodwaters radiated through her. For a moment, it seemed as though someone had heard her cry and was reaching down to help diffuse the situation. The uncontrollable spinning slowed, everything seemed to pause and she could hear her own heavy breathing rushing past her pounding eardrums. Then the multimeter slipped from her hand and sank beneath the swirling water as the world faded to black.

* * *

As for Carter? He had spent the better part of the day doing as little as possible. After filling Lucas in on his exploits, he had left the young physicist at the Lab and continued to wander around the colony solo. He scorned the use of umbrellas, and being soaked for such a lengthy period of time had spawned a fascinating scent which seemed to follow him around wherever he went. It was probably largely due to this fact that the colonists left him in peace as the hours passed. Finally, as the afternoon drew to a close, Mira found him leaning on the outside fence.

"What are you doing?"

Carter sighed and responded lazily.

"Nothing."

Mira speared the shovel she was carrying into the ground and watched him.

"You haven't done _anything_ useful today, have you?"

Carter glanced at the shovel and then up at his leader, looking bored.

"Sure I did. I held the ladder for a guy working on the fence."

"I'm surprised he trusted you enough to let you."

"Oh, he didn't." Carter shrugged carelessly. "But the ladder was wobbly and he was too far up to argue."

Mira drew herself up to her full height and glared at him threateningly.

"Terra Nova is in a state of disaster and you're over here doing nothing. If you want to eat tonight, you can take this and go help the agricultural department preserve the crops. They'll tell you what to do."

Luckily for him, Carter's reflexes were fast enough to catch the shovel she tossed at him, but once he had it, he stared at it in distaste, wishing he'd just allowed it to drop into the river at his feet.

"Why would I want to help some greenies garden?"

Mira folded her arms.

"You do this and dinner's on me. At the Bar." She added coldly as Carter made to hand the shovel back. Instead, he kept it, sticking it into the soft gravel and leaning on it lazily.

"Thank fusion. I thought you were going to offer to make dinner."

Mira's eyes hardened.

"It's a temporary offer."

"Alright, alright." Carter lifted the shovel out of the water and swung it over his shoulder, throwing up a spray that narrowly missed his leader. "I'm going."

Mira watched in irritation as he walked away through the marketplace with his shovel on his shoulder. As he passed a nearby stall, he happened to catch the eye of the same old man he had met that morning. Carter made a point to hold the stare as long as possible as he went by. The elderly colonist, however, wasn't looking at his face anymore. Instead, his eyes had drifted and were now almost bulging out of his own head. He'd noticed the shovel. Carter held back a rare snort of laughter as he continued on.

The agricultural department, or agdep, as it was commonly known, was located in one of the rare buildings amongst the crop fields in the centre of the colony. Carter walked along the inside fence, making his way towards the gate. A few metres out from it, he paused and narrowed his eyes.

There was a dark shape near the fence.

He waited, but it didn't move. With the pouring rain obscuring his vision and dripping into his eyes, it was impossible to make out what it was. He lowered the shovel and proceeded with caution. Relief swept over him a moment later as he realised what it was. A body. Just a body. Human, but probably dead. Nothing to worry about then.

His relief was short-lived. After a few more steps, he came close enough to recognise the body and his heart dropped (always a surprise to him, since he often forgot he had one). It was Skye.

Skye, who had snuck her mother out to his camp and done everything humanly possible to save her life. Skye, who had stubbornly braved the jungle time and time again, risking her own life in order to bring him information. Skye, who had stood against the enemies of her colony, plotted behind their backs and even _shot_ Lucas Taylor. Despite the fact that they had been on opposite sides at the time, he had to respect her for it. Sure, she was a bossy know-it-all and a spoiled brat sometimes, but it was a rare person who didn't like her. She didn't deserve this. What on earth could have happened?! He had been moving forward throughout the course of this internal tirade, and now dropped to his knees in the water. As he reached forward and checked for a pulse, she stirred. Carter shook her a little.

"Skye? Can you hear me?"

No response.

"Hold on."

She had been lucky. The floodwater was high enough now that if she hadn't had her arm slung over the bottom-most rail of the fence, she would have drowned easily. The fence had saved her life. Carter discarded the shovel and pulled her out of the water. Apart from groaning quietly when he dragged her to her feet, Skye didn't seem to be aware of what was happening. He cast a quick glance around at the fading light and lifted her up. For once, there didn't seem to be a single person around, but then, the agdep wasn't the most popular of places, especially at dusk. It wasn't really a surprise that she hadn't been discovered, especially if she hadn't been lying here long. He hoped she hadn't been lying here long. As he turned away from the fence, she stirred again.

"Stay with me."

Carter stepped gingerly over the location where his abandoned shovel had fallen and began the difficult task of wading back through the knee-high water toward the Infirmary.

* * *

Taylor glared across the fire at his dinner companion. The Kaprosuchus sat watching him equally as solemnly as the man used his large knife to cut chunks off the carcass. Neither spoke.

After trekking through the jungle for most of the day, Taylor had finally managed to find a dry enough ledge for his purposes. It was high enough out of the swamp to be unaffected by the growing river below, and a rocky outcrop was suspended above it, performing the job of keeping the rain off nicely. Thanks to these happy circumstances, Taylor had managed to make a small fire and was finally getting around to cooking his kill, skewering large chunks of meat onto a wooden stake he had shaped for just such a purpose. His scaly stalker had sprung up onto the ledge shortly after the fire had been lit and had remained standing like a statue on the other side ever since, his large outline flickering in and out of view against the growing darkness.

Taylor took a big bite of the hot meat as his stomach grumbled loudly. He hadn't eaten all day and he found he was starving. He leaned against the rock wall and stared out at the rain, keeping his hunting knife ready in his other hand in case his friendly neighbourhood predator decided to fight him for a taste of meat .. either kind. He flipped the knife absentmindedly and took another bite. This rain was unprecedented. How was the colony coping .. ?

No. They had rejected his guidance when they threw him out. They didn't deserve his help now. His security team, the Shannons, Skye, Malcolm .. Lucas .. they had cast him aside like garbage. They had made their own bed, and now they would have to deal with the consequences.

He stared down at the stick of meat in his hand, suddenly finding to his disgust that his appetite was gone. He forced himself to eat a little more, but it was no good. Digesting the chewy steak was becoming an insurmountable task and every lump he forced himself to swallow sank like a stone to the bottom of his empty stomach. Ah, who needed to eat anyway? He'd survive. Always did. He laid his half-eaten chunk aside and, with a grunt of disappointment, threw the remainder of the wet meat to the creature on the edge of the shadows.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

The two men stared down at the huge hole in the ground at their feet. Hope Plaza. Or where it had once been. The time fracture to Terra Nova had been discovered here. The colonists to the new world had started their new lives here. It had been blown up by terrorists and rebuilt. It had been almost ready for the continuation of their mission.

It had been completely obliterated by one man.

Now the fracture was gone. Hope Plaza was gone. All that was left in their place was a nasty great big hole in the ground that still smelled funny a year later. It was quite the eyesore, but the ground had been so unstable since the last explosion that it was impossible to use for anything. No developers wanted to take the risk of building on the site. No one with any sense would go near it. So it stood, day after day, month after month, a dark glaring crater in the centre of Chicago.

A monument had been constructed some distance away, a memorial of the day humanities' last hope had been destroyed. After the first destruction of Hope Plaza, crime rates and suicides had skyrocketed so abruptly that the government had been forced to come out with an announcement that the fracture was still intact and they would rebuild. Once again, hope had flourished. There was still a chance to be saved. Still a chance to be chosen and to bring their children up in a world so much brighter than this one. It had been a dark day for the entire world when the final explosion occurred. The bluish-white death flame shooting up into the sky above Chicago told the grim tale. The glittering rain that followed was unlike anything anyone on earth had ever seen. It was as though the blue and white sparks were a solemn celebration of the hope that had been .. and now was extinguished. Fireworks at the funeral of the future. Citizens had been warned to remain indoors until further notice. Within a few hours, a black cloud had fallen over the city that didn't lift for days.

When they were allowed out, many had returned to the old memorial of Hope Plaza to pay their respects. For a while, it became the gathering place of the community. People needed each other to get through this terrible blow. The unity that followed as a result of the catastrophe was inevitably temporary. A fight broke out at the memorial several weeks later that culminated in the deaths of 12 people. Citizens of Chicago went back to their homes. The memorial was deserted. Hope had slipped through their fingers like a drop of water in the desert. Crime rates and suicides skyrocketed once again. Humanity teetered on the brink of disaster and self-destruction. There was no future for them, no way to fix their mistakes, nothing worth surviving the harsh environment for. In that year, record amounts of people slipped away.

But what those people didn't realise was that there was hope. Another fracture had been located, kept strictly under wraps by the government under penalty of death. Leaks were hurriedly snuffed out. Whistle-blowers usually ended up in asylums somewhere. Rumours that gained ground were addressed by the media and quickly reasoned into non-existence. The citizens of Chicago quickly learned to put little faith in these stories. They were no more than wishful thinking, created by people who had nothing left to lose. The "leaks" were a desperate cry for attention, a final snatch at the future that had been wrenched from them. The fracture was gone. The rumours meant nothing.

But the two men standing on the edge of The Death of Hope knew better.

"Are you absolutely sure the radiation levels are no longer dangerous?"

"No more than usual. You walk down the street and end up with radiation poisoning. Some things are inevitable. Why fear what you can't avoid?"

"But the scientists-"

".. are worrywarts. Trust me, there's no more radiation in this old hole than in the chemicals used in the filtration system of that fancy rebreather."

He gestured to the younger man's face carelessly. After a moment of silence (in which the younger man had to sternly force himself not to remove his rebreather and throw it away), the older man sighed and glanced up at a tall building a few blocks away, clearly visible now that the nearby structures were more or less reduced to rubble. Like most of the houses around the city centre, the tall building was dark and deserted, no lights at the windows, no people to be seen. The door was boarded up to prevent the optimistic homeless from getting in, though the man suspected they'd find a way in anyway if they really wanted to. They always did.

"That crazy old man destroyed us. The fracture, the Plaza, the Sixers .. been meddling in our plans since the beginning."

His companion suppressed a sigh. How many times would his superior insist on rehashing the same ancient history? Had he dragged them back to this spot simply to reminisce about their defeat .. again? He responded in a carefully practiced tone of respect.

"Yes. But we dealt with Anderson and now we're getting back on our feet."

"I still don't understand how you missed it for so long."

The younger man bit his tongue to avoid pointing out the fact that the man beside him hadn't clued in to the scheme, and he had been one of Anderson's closest friends. He folded his arms awkwardly and stared out at the blueish-black earth.

"Myles Anderson was an astronomical miscalculation. It's to our own embarrassment that he got away with his scheme as long as he did."

"Yes. It is. I hope you realise how much your error in judgement is costing you now, Simon."

The younger man stared ruefully down at the burn scars radiating from his stump of an arm.

"It was my mistake. I've paid for it."

"I should hope so. That old coot set us back years in development."

"Yes .. first the Terra Novan terrorist attack and then Anderson. It's almost as if the universe doesn't want us to go through with it."

"Are you getting sentimental on me, Simon? If you're getting cold feet, I can get someone else. Do you know how many people are vying for your job?"

"Yes, sir."

"You made a terrible mistake. But it was one of the conditions of our benefactor that you remain in your current position. Having said that .. no more mistakes. Understand? Everything runs like clockwork from now on."

"Of course."

"Speaking of, how is our new project coming along?"

"We've had a few .. setbacks, but Kensinge assures me-"

"Kensinge." The older man growled. "Watch that woman closely. I'm still not convinced she's completely on our side. First sign of double-playing us, you pull the plug."

"She's the best physicist we've got, sir."

"And she knows it. Trust me, if anyone is going to turn against us, she has the most leverage. In the end, do we really know what it is she's building over there?"

"We send inspectors once a week."

"But do you _understand_ what you're looking at?"

".. more or less."

"And therein lies the problem."

The younger man thought for a moment.

"Kensinge wouldn't turn on us. She wants this more than anyone."

"She's just a physicist. She has very little notion of the art of war."

"She's doing what we needed her to do. The rest is up to us."

"Then we'd better get on with it. Where are these men you've been telling me about?"

The younger man gestured to a small vehicle nearby.

"Just a few minutes away, sir. I'm sure you'll be impressed."

* * *

"And they just wouldn't let me borrow a vehicle. Not even one of the small ones. Not even for an hour! Stingy wretches."

"I'm sure it must've been very inconvenient." Elisabeth threw a warning look at her assistant as he struggled to hide a snort. "Clench your fist please."

The senior gentleman did as he was told begrudgingly, never taking his gaze off the boy in front of him. His sharp eyes had caught Josh's expression and he added it to the mental list of his many grievances against the junior doctor. It was a list which was rapidly growing. Josh shifted awkwardly as he discovered he was the subject of his patient's unblinking attention. The distinguished-looking older man continued, speaking to him directly this time.

"Back in my day, it was a tradition to take a lady out for a drive on the weekend .."

Josh swiped left a few times before plastering a polite smile on his face and turning back to his patient.

"Your chart says you were born in 2082. I thought that tradition went out in like 1920."

"Not with me it didn't, sonny!"

Josh put his hands up in mock surrender as his mother took over, addressing the man sitting on the bed.

"Okay .. we're going to administer some vitamins, but other than that, you should be good to go. You are also slightly dehydrated, so I'd keep an eye on your fluid intake over the next little while."

The older man snorted.

"Don't feel much like drinking water when you're trying so hard to get away from the stuff all the time."

Elisabeth smiled.

"Be that as it may, you still need to drink it." She picked up a needle off a nearby tray and drew a small amount of clear liquid neatly into it. "This shouldn't hurt too much, but it may sting a little. You can look away if you like, though I'm sure you've had so much experience with these by now, you could probably be the one on this end of the needle!"

The patient snorted again and eyed her severely.

"Don't pander to me, Doctor. I've been putting up with your kind for longer than you've been alive."

Elisabeth lowered the prepared syringe and raised an eyebrow a little as she met his gaze.

"Then I hope you'll allow me to tell you I've had quite a bit of experience putting up with grumpy older gentlemen myself, Mr. Wendell."

Despite himself, he smiled begrudgingly.

"Very well. Get it over with."

His smile disappeared instantly as she handed the needle to her assistant.

"You may do the honours."

"What? No. Not him."

Elisabeth turned back to the man on the bed calmly.

"He is more than capable, I can assure you. I'd allow him to inject me without a second thought if it came to it."

Josh raised his eyebrows at his mother, looking pleased. The patient shifted and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. The sooner you get it done, the sooner I can get out of here, but let it be known that I submitted to this under protest."

Elisabeth smiled.

"Your reluctance is duly noted."

The patient held his arm out dutifully as Josh stepped forward. He was surprised to find he had to hide his rising anxiety. He'd done more of these than he could remember, but there was something about this patient that always unnerved him. Elisabeth put a hand on her son's arm as he glanced at her.

"Time to lock up. You finish up here and I'll be back in a minute."

Josh nodded quickly, attempting to look as confident as possible.

"Sure."

As his mother left the room, the young doctor adjusted his grip on the needle and pulled the nearby tray closer. Wendell narrowed his eyes at Josh.

"You watch where you're putting that thing."

The young doctor smiled briefly in reply and laid the older man's arm on the tray, holding the needle steady in preparation to insert it.

"Trust me, it'll be over before you know it."

"Then hurry up. Don't drop the needle, will you?"

"Stay still."

"Or what? You'll drop it?"

Josh gritted his teeth and held the patient's arm steady.

"This is going to hurt a lot more if you don't stop moving. Relax, I'm not going to drop it."

_"Dr. Shannon!"_

The unexpected yell was so loud in the near-empty building that Josh almost dropped it anyway. Both doctor and patient turned in the direction of the door and then glanced at each other. Wendell raised an eyebrow.

"Someone's not having a good day."

"Mom-" Josh began as his mother darted past, but her quick command silenced any questions he may have ventured.

"You finish there. I've got it."

Leaving her son with the only other patient in the Infirmary, Elisabeth made her way to the front entrance, where a few other nurses had appeared and were already laying the new arrival down on a gurney which had been seemingly produced from thin air. Carter stood to the side, dripping water everywhere and watching silently as the nurses did their job. Elisabeth cut through the small group and halted beside the unconscious patient, her initial jolt of dread upon recognition covered instantly by years of practice as she allowed her medical training to take over and carry her through the shock. A causal onlooker wouldn't have even noticed her hesitate.

"Skye?" Elisabeth checked for stimulus responses automatically as she talked. "Skye? Can you hear me, sweetheart?"

After a moment or two, she turned to the senior nurse.

"She's breathing and responsive to stimulus, but her pulse is weak and thready. No outward sign of trauma that I can see. It's likely to be internal. Take her to the bed at the back and run a full scan so we can see what's going on here. Quickly."

As the gurney was ushered away, Elisabeth turned back to Carter.

"What happened?"

Carter shrugged.

"Found her lying in the water like that a few minutes ago. Don't know how long she'd been there for. Will she be okay?"

"Don't know yet, but you likely saved her life."

Carter nodded as though he performed heroic acts every day and thought nothing of it.

"Anything I can do?"

"Actually, you could get her mother." Elisabeth cast a worried glance toward the door. "Do you know where she lives?"

Carter nodded once again.

"Sure."

"Carter .." Elisabeth added, halting the Sixer's trajectory for the door. "Please be as gentle as you can. She's been through enough already."

With a final brief nod, Carter disappeared back out into the rainy night.

* * *

Maddy shouldered her bag and glanced toward Lucas' desk.

"Guess I'll be off. See you tomorrow .. hopefully."

Lucas looked up from his corner and smiled a little at her.

"See you tomorrow."

Maddy paused and watched him for a moment.

"How long are you going to sit here?"

Lucas shrugged.

"As long as it takes."

"Come on, you're hardly gonna be able to finish an entire day's worth of work in a few hours."

Lucas frowned at his screen as he discovered some minor discrepancy in his work, vaguely remembering to answer Maddy after a few seconds.

"Guess I'll just have to stay overnight."

Maddy leaned on the centre bench. Malcolm had left not long before, thankfully in a better mood than that which he had arrived in. It was dark outside. The lights in the Lab had switched on automatically, and by now, the place was almost deserted. She wanted to go home herself, but should she leave him here on his own?

"You don't have to do that. Go home! Get some rest!"

Lucas threw a quick smile up at her.

"Goodnight, Maddy."

Maddy hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. Yeah, she could leave him here on his own.

"Alright then. Goodnight."

Lucas didn't look up again, instead casting a lazy wave in her direction. He'd be fine. She turned on her heel and moved thankfully toward the door. As she reached it however, she suddenly paused and groaned.

"Oh .. did you happen to check the Ovosaur today?" As he prepared to answer, she shook her head and dropped her bag near the doorframe. "Of course you didn't, you weren't here - _not_ .. that I blame you .. but someone's gotta do it."

Lucas put his tablet down and leaned back in his chair, looking over at her wearily.

"Does it really matter for one day? Just check him tomorrow."

"We were supposed to check him _today_." Maddy frowned. "And if we don't check him today, we might miss something that could be crucial to his survival. Infant dinosaurs are very sensitive to a variety of different stimulus. I mean, what if he's too cold? What if his leg is infected and turning septic? He could be dead by morning-"

"Alright, alright!" Lucas stood up hurriedly and walked over to the little Ovosaur's cage. "We'll check him. Anything to make you shut up."

Maddy stared at him for a moment.

"I'll try not to take that personally."

"Get the gloves."

They were halfway through this examination when Carter wandered in. He had been waiting outside the Infirmary for a little while, but had quickly gotten bored with it. Noticing the lights on in the Lab, he had decided to investigate. The sight that greeted him was, admittedly, not exactly what he had expected, but he wasn't disappointed. Maddy and Lucas were squashed together in front of a medium-sized cage, attempting to get a good grip on the small creature inside it. Both had thick gloves on, which, though protecting them from being nipped by the little beast, made the whole inspection process phenomenally more difficult than it should have been. It was hard to manipulate anything efficiently while wearing the large mittens, and the young Ovosaur had a terrible habit of squirming. The last thing they wanted was the little Ovosaur getting out, and so the opening to the cage was as small as possible. This, of course, had the double effect of making the task at hand twice as complicated because of the need to squeeze four limbs through the small window. All three participants in the exercise were getting more hot and frustrated by the minute. All in all, it was rather an entertaining sport to witness. Finally, Lucas managed to get a decent grip on the Ovosaur's upper body, and Maddy was doing her best to check the cast on the creature's leg when Carter decided to approach. He halted a few feet from the cage, folding his arms and watching curiously.

"Feisty little fella."

Lucas glanced up quickly.

"Oh, you noticed?" At his partner's alarmed yelp, he hurriedly got a better grip on the annoyed infant and turned back to Carter. "You're not supposed to be in here."

"Yeah." Carter fell back to watching them quietly for a minute or two before making his own announcement. "Actually, I just came to tell you Skye's been taken to the Infirmary. Doesn't look good. Thought you'd want to know."

"What?"

Now he had their attention. Maddy and Lucas were frowning at him worriedly, barely taking any further notice of the small dinosaur still in their grasp. Maddy looked as though her mind was running at a million miles a second.

"Why? What happened?!"

Carter shrugged, having nothing else to say on the subject .. nothing he felt inclined to share anyway.

"Who knows."

As Maddy shook her head in disbelief, Lucas abruptly let go of his captive and extracted his arms from the cage.

"Is Deborah there?" At Carter's nod, he threw his gloves on a nearby bench, addressing no one in particular with his next statement as he retreated toward the door.

"I have to go."

Maddy was valiantly attempting to hold onto the excited dinosaur, who, after the initial surprise at being released so suddenly, was now wriggling away from her grip as though his life depended on it.

"You can't just leave whenever you feel like it!"

"There's nothing you can-"

As Lucas darted out the door, Carter was interrupted by Maddy's frustrated yell.

"Wait! Lucas!"


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Lucas entered the Infirmary to see Deborah, Josh, and Elisabeth in the waiting area, talking quietly amongst themselves. Well, Elisabeth was talking. The other two appeared to be listening intently to what she was saying. He approached the group in silence, listening to the remnants of Elisabeth's last sentence. Several seconds had passed before Deborah even noticed him beside her.

"Oh, Lucas .."

He stared at her pale face for a moment before turning to Elisabeth.

"How is she?"

"Well .." Elisabeth began carefully. "As I was just starting to say to Deborah, she's awake, but she's a little disoriented. The intravenous fluids we've put her on seem to be helping, but I believe the underlying problem could be quite serious if we don't act quickly."

She spoke gently, but there was a solemn note of warning in her voice that they all took to heart. Deborah bit her lip as Elisabeth continued.

"She's in the back cubicle. You can see her shortly, but only for a moment. Our equipment appears to be offline right now .." She managed to hide all but the faintest hint of annoyance as she went on. "It shut off just over halfway through the scan, but I saw enough to confirm what I already suspected. Skye is bleeding internally, probably from a recent blow to the abdomen. She told me she was hit with the butt of a rifle a couple of days ago. Do you remember?"

Deborah suddenly put a hand over her mouth in horror.

"She was." She whispered. "Hooper hit her, but I didn't think .."

"It's not your fault." Elisabeth put a hand on her friend's arm. "If it's anyone's, it's mine. I saw the bruise, but I did nothing about it when I should have. She had bruises all over. I didn't realise .."

Deborah put her own hand over Elisabeth's.

"What's going to happen now?"

"Well, as it turns out, she's one very lucky young woman. If Hooper had directly hit her liver or her stomach, or any number of other organs, the results would have been far more catastrophic, but as it stands, I believe it's part of her abdominal wall that's damaged and causing the bleeding and not one of the organs themselves. I won't know for sure until I go in, but I think she's got a very good chance. She's being prepped for surgery as we speak."

Elisabeth glanced back restlessly toward the far cubicle, the blue curtains of which were now drawn to conceal the busy activity inside.

"They're probably almost ready for me now actually. Of course, seeing as the medical equipment is not operational, I'll have to do this one old-school. I'm going to go in manually to remove the excess blood and hopefully clamp the bleed, but I won't know exactly what we're dealing with until I get in there. Okay?"

Deborah took a deep breath and drew herself up shakily.

"Please. Go do whatever you can to help her."

Elisabeth nodded.

"Come say hello to her for a moment."

As the two women began to walk swiftly toward the back of the Infirmary, Josh and Lucas exchanged a glance and moved to follow them, but were stopped in their tracks by the sudden sound of the front door swinging violently open. They watched in surprise as Maddy burst through and almost charged directly into her brother. She managed to pull herself up in time however, and stood panting for a moment, staring up at him wearily.

"Oh, Josh, thank goodness you're still here."

Josh scowled down at his younger sibling.

"Of course I'm still here, Maddy. Where else would I be?"

Maddy ignored him and turned to look fearfully at Lucas.

"How is she?"

"Elisabeth's doing everything she can. We'll know soon."

She nodded gratefully at him before turning back to her brother and getting straight to the point.

"Josh, your Ovosaur got out of its cage."

She glanced again at Lucas, but kindly mentioned nothing about his involvement. Josh looked startled.

"What?! How?"

Maddy shook her head breathlessly.

"It's trapped in the Infirmary, but we can't catch it, even with the cast on. You have no idea how much it pains me to say this, but .. we could use your help. You brought it in the first time, maybe it'll let you catch it. Carter's with it now."

Josh stared at her in disbelief.

"Carter .. the Sixer?!"

He shook his head and cast a torn glance toward Skye's cubicle. Lucas caught the look and said nothing, reluctant to come to his rescue. He usually enjoyed seeing Josh squirm and didn't want to let him off the hook so easily, but like it or not, they were together in this. What Josh really needed was permission to leave, and by some strange turn of events, he found himself in the only position to give it. He hesitated for half a second longer and then spoke up solemnly in Josh's direction.

"Go. Do what you've gotta do. I'll stay with her."

It was unclear in that moment whether he was talking about Deborah or Skye - certainly Lucas wasn't at all sure as he said it, but Josh assumed the obvious and nodded gratefully.

"Let me know if anything .."

"Sure."

After another anxious glance up toward the back of the building, Josh turned and followed his sister out into the rain. Lucas watched them go and then continued on to Skye's room. He pushed the curtain aside and stepped through quietly. Elisabeth was in the process of pulling her blue surgical gown on over her clothes. Deborah was standing beside the bed talking softly to her daughter. Skye was pale and weak, but she seemed to be in fairly good spirits. Elisabeth finished securing her cap and caught Deborah's eye.

"It's time."

"Time?" Skye was frowning now and Deborah rubbed her arm gently.

"Time for Elisabeth to patch you up, Skye. I'll be right outside if you need me."

"You're leaving?" Skye squeaked, but something about the distressed look that crossed her mother's face forced her to pull herself together a little.

"Um .. try not to worry. I'll be fine." She managed to conjure up an encouraging expression. "I'll see you soon."

Deborah returned the smile.

"I know you will. You're in the best hands possible."

Elisabeth nodded at the compliment.

"And the sooner we get this done, the better. You two can wait outside and a nurse will get you a cup of tea. This shouldn't take too long."

She patted Skye's shoulder lightly. Deborah leaned down and kissed the girl's clammy forehead.

"I love you, my daughter."

Skye's eyes began to water as her mother left the room.

"I love you too, Mom."

Elisabeth turned to stare at Lucas, who was still hovering uneasily near the end of the bed.

"Everyone out includes you too, I'm afraid."

Lucas nodded hurriedly.

"Yeah."

"Look after her." Skye's slightly shaky voice halted his move to leave. "Please. She needs looking after. She's not strong-"

"Yeah, course I will .." Lucas took a step closer and nudged her arm. ".. but you're going to be fine, remember?"

Skye didn't answer straight away; her gaze was seemingly captivated by something on the ceiling above her. After a few seconds, she muttered softly.

"We thought he was going to be fine as well, but then .. he was gone so quickly." She took a faltering breath. "I'm scared. I'm dying, aren't I? I'm dying."

She found Lucas' hand near hers and grasped it, holding onto it tightly. The tears that she'd been forcing back for her mother's sake suddenly came spilling out, and she closed her eyes, willing herself to breathe normally. Lucas returned her grip and she felt Elisabeth's quieting hand on her shoulder again.

"Skye, listen to me, sweetheart. You're not going to die. This is a completely different situation and we're going to help you get better, alright?"

Skye opened her eyes and turned to Elisabeth.

"You say that, but you can never be sure how things are going to turn out, can you?"

"No." Elisabeth assented cheerfully. "But that part is where you _trust us._"

"If anyone can fix you up, she can." Lucas smiled in Elisabeth's direction before turning back to Skye and squeezing the hand that still held onto his. Her grip was surprisingly strong considering the circumstances.

"But you're going to have to let her."

Skye looked at them both and then nodded slightly, taking a deep breath and simultaneously releasing Lucas' hand.

"Okay."

"Good. See you soon." He brushed the hair off her forehead gently. "Now go to sleep. We'll be just out there."

With a wink at Elisabeth, he left the room. The curtain closed behind him, and as he walked away, a calm voice followed him, repeating a phrase that had long become second-nature to its owner.

"I need you to count back from 10 .."

* * *

"Right. There." Maddy pointed accusingly at the small feathery tail disappearing under a desk across the room.

Carter folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

"He really seems to like your workstation."

"Her feet probably smell like his long-lost family members." Josh commented seriously, breaking into a grin as his sister gave him a rough shove.

"Go do something useful for once."

"Alright, alright .."

The other two watched curiously as Josh crept toward the desk and peered beneath.

"Hiiiii .." His sing-song voice seemed to do very little to calm the small creature's nerves. The Ovosaur shot away, flying across the room with surprising speed as it dragged its casted leg behind it. Maddy groaned, but her brother held up a hand to silence her and remained on the ground, watching the dinosaur from his current position. The little black Ovosaur cowered into the shadows under a nearby table and stared back. Josh whistled softly and the creature's head tilted sharply to the left. He whistled again and the head went right. Josh held out a hand and began to creep forward slowly.

"Ink .. Inky .. come here, boy. Come here."

Maddy and Carter raised an eyebrow at each other, but said nothing.

"Inky .." Josh was within a metre or two of it now. The Ovosaur didn't move, but its beady eyes continued to stare suspiciously at him. Maddy held her breath as Josh stretched out his arm.

"Come on. Good boy .. that's it .."

The little dinosaur waited until the hand was only a few inches away from him before chirping once and scuttling away again. Josh made a grab for him, but missed and ended up sprawling sideways onto the floor. He sat up in annoyance as Inky stopped and turned back to him, bouncing his head in excitement. Maddy grinned.

"I think he's playing with you."

Josh sat back on his heels and shook his head at the triumphant beast.

"What does he eat, Maddy?"

"Here." She immediately produced a piece of dried meat from somewhere on her person and handed it to him. "At first we thought they were carnivorous, but studying this little guy has taught us that they're actually omnivorous. He'll eat practically anything, but that's his favourite."

She frowned as Josh snatched it and began his approach again.

"We tried tempting him out with it already, but he wouldn't budge. Stubborn little thing."

"Shh!" Josh hissed sharply, causing Inky to jump. "Sorry, sorry .."

He held out the meat slowly. The Ovosaur stared at it for a few seconds, then stared at Josh, then at the meat. He moved slowly forward until he could reach his long neck out to examine it. Josh froze as the dinosaur ignored the food temporarily and sniffed his hand. Then it snatched the meat away and retreated once more to eat it. Josh glanced over his shoulder at his sister.

"Another one."

Before she could hand it to him, however, Inky began to cautiously approach again, waving his neck up and down like a bird as he came. Josh held out his empty hand and the dinosaur sniffed it and raised its eyes to stare accusingly at him. No food.

Josh shrugged a little.

"Sorry."

The Ovosaur seemed to accept the apology and stood waiting, clicking the claws of his free foot on the hard Lab floor expectantly. Josh turned a little and reached out to receive Maddy's waiting slice of meat, but before he could accept it, he heard a loud screech. He turned back just as Inky raised his front claws and leapt, charging into Josh clumsily and overbalancing him. Maddy's horrified cry was accompanied by the glint of Carter's sharp hunting knife being unsheathed, but Josh clutched the small dinosaur and held it away from them with one arm, the other hand outstretched to halt Carter.

"Wait! Stop! - ow!"

He released Inky abruptly as the little dinosaur nipped him in annoyance, resenting the sudden movement and tight hold that had captured him. Inky dropped to the floor and marched around his fallen companion imperiously - well, as imperiously as one can with a broken leg. Carter sheathed his knife again slowly as Josh reached out to the Ovosaur. Inky leaped onto his stomach again and allowed himself to be petted. Josh laughed a little, the movement causing the small dinosaur on top of him to bounce up and down gently.

Maddy exchanged a bewildered look with Carter, who nodded toward the dinosaur's cage. She turned back to her brother and spoke in a low voice.

"Josh. Pick him up and put him away."

The Ovosaur seemed to be onto their game, however. As soon as he felt Josh's hands surrounding him, he leapt away again. Josh sat up and made a grab for him, but once again, he missed. The Ovosaur paused a few feet away and studied the annoyed giant thoughtfully. Josh stood and stared back.

"Maybe if we put his cage on the floor, he'll go back to it."

Maddy shrugged.

"Worth a shot."

Josh turned and set off towards the large cage, but he had only taken a few steps when he heard a light tapping behind him. He paused and glanced over his shoulder. The Ovosaur stopped when he did and tilted its head again curiously. Josh took another few steps and paused. The dinosaur did the same. Josh grinned over at Maddy, who was shaking her head in amazement. After testing it a couple more times, he proceeded to walk all around the Lab with the little creature following his every movement. Finally, when Inky grew tired of the exercise, he obligingly allowed himself to be picked up and returned to his current living arrangements without a word of protest. As Josh closed the cage door and latched it firmly, Carter leaned against the bench and raised an eyebrow at Maddy.

"Don't see that every day."

* * *

Deborah slid down a little in her chair and leaned against the wall of the Infirmary, hugging her arms to herself and rubbing them slowly. Lucas' eyes flew back to her. He was standing nearby, but neither of them had said a word for quite some time. It already seemed as though they'd been waiting forever. He watched her for a minute and then finally broke the silence in a monotone voice.

"You cold?"

"No."

The soft reply came back to him almost immediately, but she continued to stare out through the foggy window at the rain. Lucas was about to return to his previous occupation of staring into space when a young nurse appeared. He stepped toward her.

"Hey. Could you bring a cup of tea?"

In fact, tea was the last thing he wanted right now, but he had a vague memory of someone mentioning it and held onto the slight hope that it might somehow comfort Deborah a little. The nurse, however, had other ideas. She raised an eyebrow and stared back at him disdainfully.

"This isn't a cafe, you know."

Lucas tensed in surprise, but continued to stare evenly at her.

"I know that. But I thought maybe you'd be kind enough to do it anyway."

She folded her arms and smiled up at him.

"You thought wrong."

"Jameson. What's going on here?"

They both looked up to see Head Nurse Ogawa emerging from the back room. She was in the process of removing her scrubs, but had paused as she heard the last part of the conversation. Now as she neared them, she frowned and studied the younger nurse.

"I asked you a question."

Nurse Jameson glanced at Lucas and shrugged.

"Just conversing with the waiting room people."

Ogawa raised her eyebrows at Lucas as though she was waiting for him to either confirm or deny the story, but he'd forgotten all about tea the second she'd entered the room. Deborah had also stood and was listening anxiously from behind them. As the conversation stalled, she spoke up.

"How is she?"

Ogawa smiled kindly at her.

"The surgery's going well. You don't get a chance to witness many old-fashioned surgeries anymore. Dr. Shannon's even better than they said she was."

Deborah sighed quietly with relief and sank back down into her chair again.

"How much longer?"

"Not too long." Ogawa threw her scrubs into a nearby bin. "I know it's difficult, but try not to worry. It looks like we caught her just in time."

Deborah nodded slowly and smiled up at the head nurse.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ogawa looked back around at Jameson. "Have you offered them a drink yet?"

The girl shifted sulkily and glanced at Lucas.

"Do you want a drink?"

He waited so long to answer that Ogawa was about to repeat the question herself, but just as she opened her mouth, he replied quietly.

"Tea. Thank you."

"I'll see what I can do."

The younger nurse nodded abruptly and, with an apprehensive glance at her superior, left the room. Ogawa waited until she'd disappeared before turning to Lucas calmly.

"You already asked for that, didn't you?"

His faint smile was his only reply, but it was more than enough. Ogawa shook her head a little as her mouth grew thin and tight, the smile falling from her face.

"If you'll excuse me. Elisabeth will be out soon to talk to you and you'll have your tea shortly."

He moved back to sit beside Deborah as the head nurse left the room with a determined series of steps.

"Wouldn't want to be in the break room right now."

In truth, he would've given quite a lot to witness the following conversation between the two nurses, but whatever was said, it did the trick. A somewhat flushed Nurse Jameson appeared minutes later with a hot cup of tea for each of them and a swift apology about the wait. She left as quickly as she had appeared. After a minute or two, Lucas turned to Deborah again.

"How's your tea?"

She gave a short laugh as she smiled back at him.

"Quite good, considering."

He nodded slowly and leaned back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

"Hm."

She hadn't touched a drop of it. He'd known she hadn't before asking. Against the inclination of his stomach, he took a sip from his own cup. It wasn't bad. As far as tea went, it was quite respectable, but neither of them felt in the least like drinking it. After another few minutes of silently staring at the ceiling and watching the same old sheets wave gently above him, he shook his head a little and muttered softly.

"I hate this place."

Several seconds had passed before he felt her move beside him.

"You and me both."

He glanced sideways to see her smiling sadly upwards at the same patch of ceiling his eyes had just left. He watched her for a moment before returning his gaze to the familiar spot.

"Deb. Drink your tea."

This time, she reluctantly complied.

Despite what it may have felt like, it really wasn't long before Elisabeth returned with the good news. She approached them and removed her surgical cap happily. Her smile grew wider as she began what had always been her favourite part of the job.

"Surgery went well. The bleeding was caused by a tear in the minor blood vessels connected to the wall of her abdomen, but we've managed to repair the damage. She's going to be just fine."

Deborah put a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes.

"Oh, thank goodness."

Elisabeth stifled a yawn.

"She'll sleep for a good while yet - overnight, if I have my way, but I'll stay with her just in case she wakes up."

Deborah looked up quickly.

"But she will be alright?"

Elisabeth nodded reassuringly.

"Yes, she'll be back to her old self in a day or two."

Deborah smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Elisabeth. For everything."

"My pleasure."

Deborah bit her lip and stared up at the ceiling again, closing her eyes tightly. Skye was alright. Her daughter was going to be alright, but the anxious wait had taken its toll. She suddenly felt indescribably weary. Lucas put an arm around her and took her cup as her hands began to shake.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Mom?"

Skye tried to sit up, but quickly fell back, gasping in pain.

"Mom?!"

"Shh .. it's okay." A dark shadow slipped in from the hall and moved toward the corner of the room. One swipe of the hand later and the little cubicle was enveloped in soft light. Elisabeth checked Skye's chart quickly and then came and sat by her bed, placing her coffee on the bedside table.

"Skye, you're in the Infirmary. Do you remember?"

Skye nodded slowly.

"I .. think so .."

Elisabeth smiled.

"It's about 3:30 in the morning. Your mother's down the hall getting some much-needed rest. I had the nurses set up the bed for her. They looked like they were making plans to camp out in the hallway."

"They?"

"Lucas." Elisabeth explained. "I sent him home. Your mother wanted to stay in here with you, but she was falling asleep where she sat. We didn't send her home on the condition that she did as she was told and went to bed."

Elisabeth leaned forward a little and lowered her voice.

"Though, to be honest, it's so wet out there, I don't think I would have had the heart to turn her out anyway. But let's keep that between you and me. Don't want to damage my reputation as the sternest doctor in the colony."

Skye - like the vast majority of Elisabeth's patients - had responded almost immediately to her calming manner and now smiled back at her.

"I'm glad you made her get some sleep. She never remembers to take care of herself." She winced as she rearranged herself into a more comfortable position. "And me? Am I .. ?"

"You're going to be just fine."

Skye seemed to relax a little.

"How long will I be in here?"

"Just a couple of days if you continue to heal as well as I believe you will. Though I think you owe Carter a thank you. You're very lucky he found you when he did."

Skye frowned thoughtfully.

"Carter .. I heard him, I think." She grinned at Elisabeth. "Remind me to get him some flowers when I get out of here."

Elisabeth laughed softly.

"As much as I'm sure he'd appreciate the gesture, you'd be hard-pressed to find any flowers around here at the moment, I'm afraid."

"True."

Skye fell to looking glum for a moment and then suddenly gasped.

"The multimeter-!"

"Hush." Elisabeth put out a hand and threw a gentle look of rebuke at her patient. "I'm sure they have other multimeters. No one will jump on you for drowning that one."

Skye smiled wryly.

"I feel like someone already jumped on me."

Elisabeth took a sip of her coffee.

"You'll feel increasingly better over the course of tomorrow, just take it easy, okay?"

The patient nodded dutifully and sank further down into her pillow, watching Elisabeth quietly.

"Shouldn't you be at home?"

"I'm on shift." Elisabeth paused and looked up as Ogawa poked her head in to check on them. When she saw all was well, she smiled and quickly disappeared again. Elisabeth turned back to Skye.

"Jim's with the kids."

"He's a good Dad."

Elisabeth caught the touch of wistfulness in the girl's voice and smiled warmly.

"Yes, he is."

They both fell silent for a minute as each wandered off into their own thoughts. Jim and the children would be asleep right now, Elisabeth hoped. Even Josh, who had insisted on trudging the short distance home in the pouring rain and flooded streets. She had offered to make up a temporary bed for him in the storage room, but he had stubbornly insisted on going home to his own bed, maintaining that he never slept a wink anywhere else. His mother shoved down a twinge of worry. He was an adult now. He had to be allowed to make his own choices. Didn't mean her driving instincts to protect him at any cost suddenly vanished overnight. It just meant that now she had to bear them in helpless silence. She turned back to Skye, who was in the process of studying the storage cupboard opposite her.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Skye glanced up at the IV bag that still hung over her and shrugged wearily.

"Not really."

"Back to sleep then." Elisabeth nodded decisively, draining the remnants of her coffee and standing. "Rest is the best thing for you at the moment."

Skye submitted reluctantly as Elisabeth pulled the blankets up and settled them snugly around her, much as she still did with her own daughters on occasion.

"Goodnight, sweetheart. See you in a few hours."

"Goodnight."

Skye smiled as Elisabeth turned the lamp off and left the room, closing the curtain quietly behind her. When she had first awoken, the room had appeared to be pitch black, but now Skye realised there was still a dim light coming from the middle of the building and glowing faintly through the curtain. As the lonely silence deepened in the room, the ceaseless patter of the rain outside seemed to grow louder. More often than not, there were now plips and splashes as well as the rain came to land in the mounting water on the other side of the sturdy wall. Skye turned toward the window. The street lights had been turned off for the past few days to save on power, but she could just make out the light of the large moon through the foggy plexiglass. Even on overcast nights, the clouds had a near impossible task in covering it up. It always managed to break through somehow. She stared at it, snuggling down into her bed a little further and listening to the pouring rain on the roof. There was something comforting about being in the Infirmary when you weren't feeling well. She felt safer here than in her own house. Every now and then, she would hear the sound of soft shuffling as someone passed close by, reminding her she wasn't alone. Her bed was growing more comfortable by the second. Still exhausted from the events of the previous day, it wasn't long before she drifted back into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

"How is she?"

Elisabeth stifled another yawn and looked past Lucas to an impatient man that had just entered the waiting room. Night had faded and another day was rapidly getting underway.

"One of my nurses will be with you in a moment, Mr. Daniels."

She turned back to the two in front of her with a smile. Having woken when the daily buzz of activity began to creep into the Infirmary, Deborah had now been up and about for an hour or so and as a result, was looking fairly presentable. Lucas, however, had just arrived, and judging by the unruly nature of his hair and the gravelly note to his voice, had gotten up much more recently.

"She's doing much better. She was a bit restless last night, but I sat with her for a while and she seemed to sleep okay. In fact, she was still sleeping when we - Deborah and I - went to look in on her a little while ago. She only just woke up, but she's quite a lot brighter already."

Lucas grinned.

"Let me guess: You started telling her the muesli story and she was out like a light."

Elisabeth laughed at Deborah's bewildered expression.

"Actually, no. That was a you special, I'm afraid."

".. pity. I'm sure more people would benefit from a retelling."

Elisabeth pointed to his smug smile with a raised eyebrow.

"That's enough cheek out of you. One more word and I'll send you packing."

Lucas raised a hand in surrender and remained silent. Elisabeth nodded her approval and threw a smile at Deborah.

"It's about time she had something to eat. You can go in and sit with her and I'll have Ogawa bring you both some breakfast."

Deborah smiled gratefully at her friend.

"Thank you, Elisabeth. For everything."

"All part of the service." Elisabeth stifled yet another yawn and turned back to Lucas. "You can go in too, if you like. I wouldn't mind betting you haven't had anything to eat since last night either."

Lucas shrugged a little, willing himself not to yawn in sympathy.

"Thank you, but I told Malcolm I'd go and help him run some tests this morning. He's planning .. something." He frowned at Elisabeth. "What about you? You going to go home and get some rest soon? You look half dead."

Elisabeth choked back a laugh.

"Thank you very much! You're one to talk." She paused and examined the dark circles under his eyes severely. "But yes, I'm just heading out actually. I've been on shift for 36 hours. I have gotten _some_ sleep in that time, but it hasn't been much."

She shook her head in mild annoyance as she hastily covered up another yawn.

"Sorry."

Lucas frowned and shook his head at her in mock disapproval as he backed up a few steps before turning to Deborah.

"Tell her I'll be back to visit her later, Deb."

Deborah smiled and nodded toward the door.

"Sure. Go save the colony from impending doom."

Lucas paused.

"I know you're joking, but unfortunately, you're not far wrong."

With that foreboding statement, he made his exit, the sound of the rain bursting suddenly into the quiet room before subsiding again as the door closed behind him. As Deborah turned to walk back toward Skye's room, Elisabeth put a gentle hand on her arm.

"Hang in there."

Deborah smiled soberly and nodded.

"I'm trying. Now go get some rest."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Maddy rolled her head back and stared at the roof of the Lab, listening to the almost inaudible tapping above her. The rain, true to aggravating form, had lightened up again as the morning progressed and was now only a sprinkle here and there. She was grateful for the shelter from the incessant damp, but being stuck inside the Lab all day was getting very old very quickly. With little else to do, Malcolm had suggested she "update the database" .. and Malcolm's suggestions were usually taken as orders. Her train of thought deserted her as a high-pitched squawk came from a few metres away. She groaned and looked over in annoyance at the small Ovosaur's cage. Inky had been chirping almost incessantly to himself the entire morning. Thankfully, Lucas and Malcolm had gone into the other room to work, or she had a feeling the head researcher would be throttling the vocal creature by now. Maddy smiled as she pictured herself attempting to pry Malcolm's hands off the Ovosaur's scruffy neck.

But this wasn't getting her work done.

Maddy sighed and went back to her computer, pausing half a second later with a frown already creeping onto her face. Something was wrong. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she looked around. The Lab was empty, save herself and the young Ovosaur. She caught Inky's eye and realised he had suddenly fallen very silent. The little dinosaur stared back at her accusingly. What was wrong? Was he hungry?

As Maddy stood out of her chair, a dull metallic chorus began to ring in her ears. She looked to her right to see the scientific implements on a nearby bench beginning to clatter softly. She looked quickly back at Inky. The Ovosaur was beginning to cower in the bottom of his cage now. As the symphony rose in volume, the ground began to shudder alarmingly along with it.

Malcolm suddenly appeared from the back room, tools still in hand, with Lucas close behind him.

"Get outside. Now!"

Maddy needed no further encouragement. She fled outside to join the already-gathering crowd in the street. As she stepped out into the open, a faint roaring sound reached her ears. She stared around. A nearby mother was trying to comfort her sobbing toddler. A young woman was chatting to a friend with wide eyes. An old man was staring grimly out into space, as if waiting for the end of the world to overtake him. All were standing in nearly a foot and a half of faintly rippling water. Maddy frowned up at Malcolm in confusion.

"Earthquake?"

He said nothing, but shook his head, raising his hand to indicate some unknown entity behind her. Maddy turned and followed his line of sight. He was staring up beyond the perimeter fence to the mountain that formed the majority of their southern horizon. Maddy squinted as the view seemed to shift unnaturally before her eyes. Then she understood the reality of what she was witnessing. Part of the far side of the mountain near the top was giving way and tumbling down. She continued to watch in surprise as Malcolm's low voice arose from behind her.

"Landslide. The ground's too wet. Just wait."

Maddy waited. Everyone waited. The slide had occurred mostly on the other side of the mountain, so they lost sight of it pretty quickly. Before long, the rumbling ceased as well. After several minutes of silence, scattered conversations began to break out around them. When he had finished answering several questions put forward by a few particularly concerned citizens of the colony, Malcolm turned back to his own staff.

"Right. Back to work."

Maddy frowned.

"But .. there was just a landslide. Isn't there something we should .. do?"

Malcolm folded his arms and fixed her with a somewhat patronising stare.

"Do? Nothing we can do, unless you want to try and hold it together yourself. If it's going to slide, just be glad it's decided to slide away from us. Now." He raised his eyebrows at his youngest assistant and deliberately changed the topic. "How are those entries coming?"

Despite Malcolm's best efforts, very little work was done in the next fifteen minutes, his members of staff preferring to hypothesise among themselves rather than deal in facts. He was preparing the tongue-lashing he was about to unfurl upon them when his morning plans were further obliterated. He looked up in annoyance as Jim burst into his office and threw a dirty satchel onto his pristine desk.

"Malcolm. Suit up."

Malcolm attempted to look bored as he met the other man's gaze.

"Why? Where are we going this time?"

Jim frowned as though the answer was obvious.

"Snakehead. We're going to assess the damage."

Malcolm nearly choked.

"What?! Now?!"

Jim had turned away and begun rifling around in one of Malcolm's previously well-organised drawers. Now he glanced over his shoulder in agitation.

"Yes, now. Come on, let's go."

The head researcher shook his head in amazement.

"This is insane, even for you. You can't be serious. You must be kidding! You - _Jim_, for goodness _sake_, will you be careful with that - You can't even get out the front gate!"

"So we'll go around the back." Jim threw another couple of odds and ends into the questionable satchel and turned to his reluctant colleague. "Malcolm, we'll be careful, but if another part of the mountain gives way and falls into the river, we're in serious trouble. I need to know when and if that's going to happen. I need to make decisions that affect the entire colony and I need someone I trust to advise me. That's why I need you along. Now come on."

Malcolm shrugged helplessly, shoving down the unacceptable spark of excitement that was beginning to grow inside of him.

"Well, how can I possibly say no to that?"

* * *

"There." Harlon finished putting the final touches on his new crossbow and stared at it with pleasure. "Another one done."

The older Sixer beside him was silent for a moment before throwing his bow down on the ground in annoyance, half-secured handle and all. As it crashed loudly on the rough wooden floor, Harlon watched him in amusement.

"Need some help, Paul?"

"Why are we stockpiling weapons anyway?" A wry female voice piped up from across the room. "We have more than enough, we're running out of places to put them, and it's not like we're constantly losing our supplies anymore. We could be out there hunting, rather than stuck in here."

She gestured vaguely around the dark shed as Harlon raised his head slowly to meet her eyes.

"We're stockpiling them because if things go south here, we want to be better armed than they are." As she shrugged in resignation, he added. "And I need to be able to make up for your lack of commitment somehow."

She looked up in surprise as he smiled dangerously.

"Someone has to be onside to rescue you when you inevitably get into trouble, and that someone has a better chance if they're properly armed."

He went back to his work calmly as she sat in stunned silence. Regardless, he was fully expecting some form of retaliation, and as such, didn't even flinch when a sharp stone suddenly became lodged in the bench beside his hand. He did, however, smile to himself as she stood angrily, evidently annoyed further by the fact that her attempt to intimidate him had had little impact.

"I don't need you. I can look after myself."

Harlon's other companion whistled softly as she stormed out of the shed, slamming the rickety wooden door behind her.

"You're in for a rough time if you don't apologise. C'mon, man, you know better than to mess with her. Knight's got a short fuse and a long memory. We'll never hear the end of it."

Harlon shrugged.

"I can handle Charlie." He suddenly looked up and signalled for quiet as a couple of unexpected voices drifted in from outside. After a moment or two of listening, his features darkened grimly and he rose to investigate.

* * *

"Yeah, well, you try keeping your boots clean in this weather."

"You're wearing boots? I thought you'd just caked mud on your feet and called it a day."

Malcolm smiled irritatingly at Mira. She threw a disdainful glare at him and kept walking. A few paces ahead, Mark stifled a laugh and shook his head at Jim. The commander smiled briefly in return. Getting the Sixer chieftess and the head science officer together was always a recipe for disaster, but in this case, he didn't have a choice; he needed them both. He glanced behind him just in time to see Malcolm gesturing to the top of Mira's head.

"You know, it's very interesting. Your hair always reminds me of the ancient peawarbler." Mira watched him in silence and waited for the inevitable barb that was coming. Malcolm ignored her icy glare and continued his conversational chatter as they walked.

"They make a very distinctive nest, you know. Always collecting bits of twigs and small bones to supplement-"

He was up against a nearby turbine before he could take another breath, Mira holding him firmly by the collar. She twisted it slowly so that it grew increasingly tighter around his neck. This close to his face, her bared white teeth stood out strikingly against her dark features.

"Shut. Up."

Malcolm nodded hurriedly, wincing as she gave his collar a last sharp jerk.

"Noted."

He wheezed in a few desperate breaths as she released him, then stared indignantly at Jim and Mark, who had paused to wait patiently a few metres away.

"You couldn't have helped me? Called her to heel or something-" He raised his hands abruptly in an attempt to pacify Mira as she swung around again.

"Alright, alright, sorry."

The irritated woman pointedly ignored him this time, turning abruptly and stalking away without a second glance. Malcolm watched her for a few moments, but she showed no sign of stopping. He finally turned to the two who were still waiting nearby for him and shouldered his crumpled backpack with an injured expression.

"Let's just go."

Harlon slipped easily out the door of his shack and crept silently around the side, his feet sinking alarmingly in the mud. Unlike the majority of the colony, his small establishment had refused the installation of the flood shields, but truth be told, they weren't in need of them yet anyway. While Mira and several others had been happy to resume their lives in regular houses, the remaining Sixers, used to having to fight for their survival, had rejected the offer of shelter and had subconsciously congregated toward the highest point inside the colony instead. Not wanting to accept the (admittedly reluctant) help of the colonists, Harlon and his small group had built their own shack as far away from anyone else as possible. It was becoming quite obvious that this philosophy, though frowned upon at the time, had its benefits after all. While most of the ordinary houses were now knee-deep in floods, the water still hadn't quite reached their doorstep yet.

Harlon leaned casually against the outside wall of the shack and watched the intruders walk away. Another side effect of their isolation was that they rarely got passers-by. Especially not the commander of the colony. After debating with himself for a few moments over whether to confront the group or follow silently, the Sixer raised his voice.

"You have a death wish, don't you?"

With a warning look at Malcolm, who had begun to roll his eyes dramatically the second he realised who was speaking, Jim turned to Harlon. The young man had pushed himself away from the wall and was now slowly approaching them. Jim waited until he was within normal speaking range before replying.

"Why do you say that?"

Harlon folded his arms and shrugged.

"I assume you're trying to sneak out. Why else would you come this way?" He threw a veiled look at Mira, who didn't look in the least bothered by his apparent disapproval. "And you still haven't given the word to evacuate. You're sentencing these people to death."

Jim held back a weary sigh and surveyed the surrounding area calmly. From their position on the low hill, they had a decent view of the lake they were currently inhabiting. How long before the water swallowed them up completely?

Harlon waited.

A few moments later, Jim turned back to the Sixer with an air of finality.

"I don't have time to go through this with you again. We're going up to check on Snakehead. You're welcome to come if you leave your broken record behind."

Harlon smiled sardonically.

"What will it take for you people to see reason? This is your last chance."

Jim shrugged and turned away, evidently done with the conversation.

"Up to you."

They hadn't gone more than a few paces before Harlon's voice once again halted their retreat.

"Mira!"

The leader of the Sixers appeared to have been expecting the summons and turned to Jim almost immediately.

"I'll catch up."

After receiving a brief nod from the commander, Mira hung back and waited for Harlon to approach again. She wasn't about to be subject to his beck and call. If he wanted to talk to her, he could do the coming and going himself. Upon reaching her, the Sixer didn't waste any time getting to the point.

"You've thrown your lot in with them." If he had expected a response, he was out of luck. Mira simply watched him. After a few moments of silence, he sighed impatiently and continued.

"The commander's determined to go down with his ship and everyone in it. We're not going to sit around and watch it happen."

Mira nodded her understanding.

"Where will you go?"

"Higher ground. Above the river."

Mira frowned a little.

"The animals will be heading that way too. There's a couple of slasher nests-"

"I know. We'll be careful." Harlon looked up and met her gaze for a few seconds in a rare moment of genuine concern. "Goodbye, Mira. I'll see you if you make it through. Good luck."

Mira nodded.

"You too."

After leaving Harlon, she managed to catch up to the others again quickly and they accepted her back without question, wandering along in silence until they came within sight of the back fence. It was here that Mira drew Jim aside to talk to him.

"He might not be wrong, you know. We can rebuild houses, but we can't replace people."

Jim met her gaze with an equally serious one.

"My point exactly. How many of these colonists do you think will survive out there? How do we charge our weapons? How will we replace our equipment? If we lose this colony, we strand ourselves. If we abandon it, the floodwaters rush through and we lose everything. We can't get any more supplies from the future. Out there, we're unprotected."

"We survived."

"And how many people did you lose, Mira?" As she remained silent, Jim shook his head. "The scientists believe they can preserve the colony and I believe them."

He raised his eyes to the top of the tall fence nearby as something else occurred to him, a thought that had been playing on his mind far more than he would have liked recently.

"We're still humanity's last hope .." He gave a sharp nod as if he suddenly agreed with his own decision. "We stay."

Malcolm looked uncomfortably at Mark as Mira subsided, but nothing more was said on the subject. The fence was very close now, though in its current state, they would just about have to hold their breath and dunk themselves to get under it. This process, however uncomfortable it may have been, was completed uneventfully. Within a few moments, the four explorers had left the safety of the colony.

* * *

Back at his shack, Harlon had gathered a few central members of his own group together.

"I'm not staying here to die just because our fearless leader refuses to abandon ship. We need to get out while we can. Tell everyone you see that we're leaving and they're welcome to join us."

The man on his right laughed weakly.

"'Everyone'? I assume that excludes the colonists, right?"

Harlon shot him a withering look.

"Even Taylor's sheep deserve a last chance to survive. Most of them are innocent civilians after all. Everyone means everyone."

His companion shrugged.

"Fair enough."

"But what are we gonna do about the other problem?"

Harlon's gaze shifted to the new speaker.

"What?"

The woman across from him explained patiently.

"Well, Shannon's not gonna let us just walk out, is he?"

Harlon smiled a little.

"He won't have a choice. He'll let us leave or he'll have a war on his hands as well."

This seemed to satisfy the uncertain members of the group. Harlon looked around the dishevelled room with a critical eye before returning his attention to his listeners.

"Get ready. And get this place sorted out. As soon as dawn breaks tomorrow, we're leaving the colony."


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Maddy blinked and shook herself a little, suddenly realising she'd been staring at the exact same picture on the wall for the past five minutes. She glanced over at Lucas, who was currently hunched over something at his desk.

"So that was .. weird. You think they'll be okay?"

"Who?"

When Maddy didn't answer, he looked up to see her eyeing him tolerantly. He replayed the last few sentences of the conversation in his head before suddenly nodding his comprehension and turning back to his project.

"I think even an avalanche'd be stupid to stand between your dad and a mystery."

Maddy snorted.

"You make him sound like Nancy Drew."

Lucas frowned faintly and repeated his original question.

"Who?"

"A detective back in the .. nevermind. And it's not an avalanche if there's no snow. It's a landslide."

"Mhm." Lucas didn't appear to be listening. Maddy frowned and crept closer, peering over his shoulder.

"What are you working on?"

She'd barely opened her mouth before Lucas slammed his arms down flat on the desk and glared at her.

"How does that soldier boy put up with you?! Yak yak yak _all_ the _time_." He stared at the wall in front of him. "What I wouldn't give for two minutes of peace. Just leave me alone, alright?"

Maddy stared at him as though he'd suddenly taken leave of his senses, but nodded slowly.

"Fine."

She swallowed the startled tears that threatened to humiliate her and hurriedly returned to her desk. Lucas cast a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure he was safe before returning to his previous activity. He lifted his arms to uncover the small object he'd had to rapidly conceal a moment earlier, picking the silvery device up and sliding it around in his fingers. It was lighter than he remembered. Funny how such a small object could perform such an important role in the history of the world - both the new one and the old one.

He shook his head to clear away his pointless musings and slid his fingers gently along the slightly curved sides of the device, searching for the hidden buttons he knew were there. It didn't take him long to find them. Whether due to muscle memory or simply luck, his fingers quickly slotted into the indents on either side of it and he squeezed lightly, watching the thin casing flex and expecting the transparent key to pop out of the end like it usually did.

It did not.

Lucas frowned and pulled a tiny flathead screwdriver out of his shirt pocket, prying the two sides of the device apart carefully. As the internal contents were revealed, he placed the pieces down on the desk with an air of annoyance. It was as he had suspected. All of the important parts were missing. Without them, the little communications device was as good as dead.

He leaned forward in frustration and ran a hand over his chin. What now? The sudden gentle patter of quiet footsteps behind him dispelled his thoughts for the moment. He glanced quickly over his shoulder, sweeping the dismantled pieces of the device into one of his open desk drawers as he did so. Instead of releasing the tongue-lashing he had been preparing to rain down upon his younger colleague, he found himself staring irritatedly into Deborah's unblinking face. She smiled a little.

"Are you busy?"

"Uh .. no." Lucas forced a smile and shook his head, glancing quickly around the Lab as he did so. Maddy was nowhere to be seen. He looked back up at Deborah. "What is it?"

Deborah studied him for a moment.

"I can come back if you're busy."

"No!" Lucas waved his hand carelessly and laughed a little, reaching over behind her and pulling across another chair. "Just in .. science land, that's all. Please."

He gestured to the newly-placed chair across from him.

"Sit."

"Thank you." Deborah sat down gratefully and clasped her hands together in her lap. Lucas immediately took note of the nervous gesture and frowned.

"Everything alright, Deb?"

Deborah bit her lip for a moment and took a deep breath, shaking her head at herself with a little laugh before meeting his concerned face.

"I promised I'd keep you in the loop and I'm keeping that promise." She looked out the window distractedly and then swallowed, forcing herself to look calmly back at him.

"Elisabeth spoke to me this morning before everyone was up. She has the results back. It's not good news, I'm afraid."

Lucas leaned on his knees and unconsciously clasped his own hands together.

"What do you mean?"

Now that she'd begun the explanation, Deborah seemed to relax a little.

"It's an autoimmune disease brought on by the syncillic fever, as Elisabeth suspected. They aren't sure which one or what the treatment is yet, but they have several things they're going to test." She gave a wry smile. "I suppose in a way I'm their guinea-pig."

Lucas blinked blankly, attempting to comprehend the information she'd just given him.

"But .. they could be wrong .. right? Nothing's for certain."

"They're very sure in this case." Deborah sighed and looked out the window again. "I have to take it easy and eat properly .. all the usual things, I suppose. In time, it may get worse, or it may not."

She turned back to him and shrugged a little.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Lucas shook his head firmly.

"No. No, it can't be. They must've-"

"Shh." Deborah leaned forward and put her hands on his. Lucas looked down at them dimly. They were cold.

"There's no mistake. They checked three times."

Lucas shook his head again in confusion.

"But .."

"It's alright, son."

Lucas stared back at her, his heart sinking into his stomach. She'd only called him that once before .. when things were really bad. He found his self-control starting to waver.

"Skye-"

"Can't know." Deborah finished, fixing him with a warning look. "Not yet. It may still all amount to nothing."

Lucas ran his hand through his hair, suddenly feeling exasperated with the whole situation.

"Deborah, she's going to notice if you get any worse. She already knows you're struggling." At Deborah's immediate frown, he added, "Before you ask, no, I haven't said a word, but come on. She's smart and she knows you better than anyone. She's going to notice! It's inevitable .."

He stared up at the far wall expressionlessly and muttered to himself.

".. and then she's going to be mad at me for not telling her."

"I know. And I'm sorry for putting you in this position." Deborah looked genuinely apologetic for a moment before the resolution returned to her features. "If things get worse, I will tell her. But I refuse to worry her for nothing."

Lucas shrugged and shook his head in defeat.

"Your call."

Deborah smiled a little and stood, patting his knee gently.

"Thank you. Now, I better get back. I told her I was going to find something decent to eat. She'll be wondering where I am."

Lucas rolled his head back and stared at her reprovingly.

"Deborah .."

The older woman laughed.

"I know, I know." She patted his shoulder. "Good luck with .. science land."

Lucas watched her go with a heavy heart, calling out to her as she reached the door.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!"

She paused to throw a laughing look at him before she plunged back out into the light drizzle.

* * *

"Be careful where you step, it's pretty-"

Malcolm suddenly cut his own warning short as he made a mad grab for Mark's arm. As if on cue, the young soldier behind him had gone down. Mark's boot had slid out from under him like lighting, and it was now only Malcolm's desperate grip on his collar that was halting his further descent down the mountain. As it was, if the head researcher hadn't been hanging onto a sad-looking tree for dear life with his other hand, they would've both plummeted. Malcolm shook his head disapprovingly as he watched the panicked soldier scrabble for a foothold.

".. mossy."

"Thanks." Mark panted as he finally regained his footing and shifted his rifle to his other shoulder. Malcolm released his handful of wrinkled uniform and smoothed it back down a little.

"No problem."

"Everything okay?" Jim's voice came from further up ahead. Malcolm raised a hand in reply.

"We're fine."

He turned back to Mark as Jim nodded and kept moving.

"Let's not try that again."

Mark laughed a little and nodded breathlessly.

"Right."

They were travelling well uphill from the floodwaters, but the lack of solid ground available dramatically increased the odds of running into some unhappy natives .. not to mention trying to walk diagonally along the side of a _very_ slippery hill was turning out to be a lot harder than it had first sounded .. and it had sounded pretty hard.

Mark had drifted back into his own thoughts - thoughts he had been so rudely shocked out of when his leg flew out from under him. His distraction was probably half the reason he had lost his footing in the first place. He made a mental note to concentrate on where he was walking .. though, he thought wryly to himself, the idea of dropping swiftly down the side of the mountain was distinctly more appealing than the situation he was currently thinking over.

The wedding. It was in less than three months. In less than three months, he would be married. In less than three months, he would have Maddy Reynolds as his wife.

The silly smile on his face faded as he returned to the point that was really troubling him.

In less than three months, Jim would become his father-in-law.

Jim, who had never thought he was good enough for Maddy. Jim, who had taken pleasure in riddling his life with anxiety from the first day they met. Jim, who was now in charge of the entire colony and had an enormous arsenal of weapons at his disposal! Jim, who would be legally related to him by the time November struck .. whatever "legally" meant anymore. Mark shook his head as he stepped carefully over another rotten tree root.

Somehow he could never picture himself calling the Commander "Dad".

He and Malcolm had almost caught up with the two in front now. Jim and Mira had slowed down to survey the river below, and judging by the looks of things, weren't too happy about what they had discovered. If Mark had been paying attention, he would have seen Jim shake his head and turn towards them with a dissatisfied frown on his face. As it was, the young soldier had fallen back into his own thoughts. Less than three months .. how could he get Jim to like him in less than three months?!

"Mark?"

"Yes, Dad?"

Jim froze as Mark stared at him in shock, all thoughts of the river temporarily forgotten. Malcolm snorted in amusement as a bright shade of red began to creep across the humiliated soldier's face. Mark opened his mouth and attempted to speak - he wanted to apologise, he _had_ to say _something_ .. but try as he might, he just couldn't seem to formulate a single sentence. It was as if the connection between his mouth and his brain had been severed. All he could do was stand there and stare as the agonising silence stretched out for all eternity. He began to wish fervently that another landslide would suddenly come and cover him up.

Jim managed to recover from his own shock a little quicker and raised an eyebrow, his sharp voice covering up his embarrassment and cutting through the silence like a dagger.

"Reynolds, you're miles away. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that out here, letting your guard down can be fatal. Something you want to share with the group?"

Mark's heart was still pounding out of his chest, but to his acute relief, he managed to find his tongue.

"N-No .. Sir."

"Good."

As Mira rolled her eyes at the unnecessary theatrics, Jim turned his attention back to the reason they were all out there in the first place. For once, he was glad of the distraction the flood problem presented.

"Malcolm, can I talk to you?"

The head researcher nodded amiably.

"Yep."

They had almost reached the edge of the landslide. Mira fell back to wander along in silence beside Mark as Jim and Malcolm continued on, every so often catching a glimpse of the raging torrent below them through the trees. They picked their way through the hazardous wilderness for a good 30 metres with neither saying a word, Malcolm waiting patiently as the seconds turned into minutes. Finally, Jim shook his head.

"It's worse than I thought."

"It is pretty bad." His companion agreed helpfully.

"I mean, look how high it is, Malcolm. If we have another landslide on this side of the mountain, it'll rip the colony to shreds."

"True." Malcolm nodded sadly. As Jim stared gravely out at the water, the chief science officer took pity on him and continued. "Look, sooner or later - probably sooner, these banks are going to burst, and I mean _really_ burst. We need to decide on a course of action now. If you'll allow me, I have a suggestion."

Jim turned to him hopefully.

"You do?"

Malcolm raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Look, no one could have predicted this - not even me, but it is happening now and we have to work with it."

"So what do we do?"

Malcolm hesitated. This was a crucial moment. If his plan had any chance of getting off the ground, Jim was the person he had to convince. He folded his arms and met his impatient listener's gaze calmly.

"We hide out." He said, as though it was the most reasonable suggestion in the world. "Everyone stays in their houses until the water goes down. We boost the shields to maximum capacity. They can't hold it long and we'll burn through our power sources, but it's enough to get us through and we're out of options here. We've run all the tests we could think of and they all checked out. Every single member of my team agrees, your daughter included. This is our best chance."

Jim was staring at him as though he'd lost his mind.

"You're suggesting we stay in our houses and let the water flow over us?"

Malcolm nodded sagely.

"That's the idea."

"Malcolm, that's insane!"

The researcher raised a hand.

"Uh-uh, not insane. Science. Those houses are made of carbon tubing. They're stronger than you think."

Jim rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

"And you're sure it'll work?"

"As sure as anyone can be. In the words of your eldest daughter, 'Of course it'll work - it's math.'"

Jim smiled a little.

"That does sound like Maddy." His brow furrowed. "And you're sure the water can't get in to mess with the electronics?"

Malcolm stared at him doubtfully.

"Are you asking me if the flood defences are waterproof? What do I look like, some kind of idiot?!"

"No, of course not."

"They're fully sealed, if that's what you mean." Malcolm commented dryly. "You have nothing to worry about on that account."

"And you're sure the pressure of the water won't .."

"The houses are structurally sound. They'll hold. Trust me."

"And if it fails?"

"As a last resort, the shields will alert everyone if they begin to fail. There'll be time to get out of the houses and up onto the roofs, though what to do from there is anyone's guess. At any rate, we'll hardly be worse off than if we desert the colony now. At least we gave it the best chance to survive."

Jim was silent for a few long moments. Malcolm tried not to look anxious as he waited for the verdict. Finally, Jim nodded decisively.

"Alright. Let's do it."

Malcolm beamed.

"Excellent. Oh .. one more thing."

Jim stared at him dubiously.

".. what?"

"You'll have to convince the council."

The commander relaxed a little and dismissed the problem with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about that. Leave the council to me. You just make sure everything's ready to go. We don't have much time left."

Malcolm clapped his hands together resolutely.

"Good, I'll get my team-what, _what is that?!"_


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Malcolm clicked the case shut and shoved it into his backpack.

"All done. We'll see what the Lab results tell us. But if my suspicions prove correct - and they will - _that_ is a Titanoboa. Though, thankfully for us, it's very dead."

The other three eyed the massive dark brown carcass sticking out of the muck with a mix of relief and suspicion. After first stumbling upon it, they had been inclined to turn and run in the opposite direction, but, as Jim had pointed out, a snake half buried under a fallen mountainside couldn't very well still be alive, could it? They had followed the long body and found its head further up, sticking firmly out of a large pile of gravelly dirt. The eyes were fixed and glazed over. Thankfully for them, it was indeed dead. Malcolm suspected that somewhere under the mass of hillside, it had broken its back. This fact, however, didn't prevent them from half expecting the long body to shiver and wake up at any moment. Mira gave it a heartfelt kick just to be on the safe side. It didn't move.

"You think the landslide killed it?"

"Looks that way." Malcolm agreed, standing up and stretching his own sore back. He threw a chastising look at Mira. "And I think it's been through enough without you having to disrespect its corpse as well."

Mira sniffed and rubbed her damp arms, looking around at the damaged vegetation. The area was barely recognisable. Malcolm followed her gaze.

"What a mess." He murmured, shaking his head. "But believe it or not, there is good news."

He turned to make sure Jim was listening. When he was satisfied, he continued.

"This side was fairly unstable already, it was all dirt. The majority of _our_ side is supported by the rock walls that form the cliff. They're about as solid as it gets. I don't think we're in any immediate danger from another landslide."

"Good." Jim muttered distractedly. Malcolm's reassurances didn't appear to have eased his troubled mind much. Mark watched him for a moment with an increasingly deepening frown.

"Something wrong, sir?"

Jim glanced at him and then back at the massive head of the snake.

"Skye said the other one was white."

Malcolm nodded sagely, having already put the pieces together for himself.

"Yes, she did."

"So this is a different one."

"That would be correct."

Mira's voice rose several decibels and she stared at him accusingly, as if he had been producing the giant creatures himself.

"How many of these things are there?"

Malcolm turned to her with a dark expression.

"Too many."

He squinted back at the snake. This far up the mountain, a few bright rays of sunlight were peeking through the rain in places, causing the wet quartz in the exposed rock to glitter dazzlingly.

"They could both have been hatched from the same nest. Maybe they were the only survivors."

The other three members of the group suddenly began to feel distinctly uneasy. After a few beats, Jim voiced the horrifying question that was now on everyone's minds.

"Are you suggesting these are juveniles?!"

Malcolm looked appalled.

"Certainly not!" He squinted against the glare and stared around at the pathetically droopy foliage, his certainty in his hypothesis growing with every second. "This isn't the proper habitat for them anyway. My best guess is they came from a swamp to the south and when the land filled up like a giant bowl, their territory expanded. They would've just followed the current here."

Jim looked over his shoulder at the rocky cliffside, as if he could see right through the layers of stone and quartz and down into Terra Nova.

"And the colony .."

The animal specialist waved his worries away like a benevolent fairy.

"Oh, it's much more comfortable for them out here than near people. They'll stay away from the colony." I hope. Malcolm wished he felt as sure of himself as he managed to sound. But they had bigger problems right now. They didn't have time to worry about a threat that in all likelihood would never eventuate. Jim, at any rate, seemed reassured for the moment.

The sun was now reaching out toward the land below them, extending its rays as far away as possible. As certain areas were gradually illuminated and the glowing afternoon light reflected off the shimmering water, it painted quite a pretty picture. Then and there, to the observers on the mountainside, the imminent future began to seem a little less bleak. It was as though the golden light was injecting a measure of hope and courage back into the forlorn wasteland. For a while, no one spoke, and the only audible noise was the distant roar of the turbulent river below. Eventually, Mark glanced back at Jim, some instinct making him keep his voice lowered reverently.

"Maybe we're over the worst of it after all."

Malcolm and Mira exchanged a look, but said nothing. Jim patted the young soldier's back.

"That's what I like about you, Reynolds. Always the optimist."

It should've been a friendly enough comment, but both Mark and Malcolm frowned slightly at the tone of voice. As Jim began to lead the journey home, Malcolm caught up with him.

"What's your problem?"

Jim shook his head irritably.

"It's naive to think it's all over. Our battle's just beginning."

"Well you don't have to take it out on Reynolds."

"I'm not." Jim met Malcolm's gaze for a second before some vague twinge of guilt made him look away. The head researcher watched him severely.

"You really should take it easier on the boy. Can't you see how hard he's trying to please you?"

Jim tapped a wet branch and sent it quivering, showering tiny droplets all around.

"That's just it, Malcolm. He's only a boy. I just wish he'd wait until he was the man I want him to be before he marries my daughter."

Malcolm scoffed.

"Well, I can guarantee that's never going to happen." He sighed dramatically. "It's been the lot of men from the beginning of time to disappoint their fathers-in-law."

Jim suddenly grinned.

"That's true enough. Elisabeth's father had a scowl that could melt the skin off a walrus from 100 feet away."

"I know." Malcolm remarked flatly. "I knew him."

".. oh."

"Although, I must admit, I was never on the receiving end of that scowl you seem to be so familiar with .." Malcolm mused. ".. but then, I think he was quite fond of me."

Jim glanced sideways at him dangerously.

"Careful, Malcolmus. I might still get angry and throw you off the side of the mountain."

Malcolm snorted loudly.

"I'd like to see you try."

* * *

Their task thus complete, the travellers made their way back down the mountain to civilisation. Unbeknownst to them, however, the landslide had accomplished more than just slaying the monstrous beast. If one swung around the far side of the cliff and down, upon nearing the foot one might glimpse a shadow of greenish grey peeking out of the soggy terrain. A large deposit of dirt had slid sideways, revealing an ancient entrance to the caverns that wound their way through the heart of Snakehead. Though it was inevitably soon to be overgrown and swallowed up by the ravenous jungle once more, for now the area was left untouched and uncovered, exposed to the open air and the elements for the first time in centuries, and the dark shadowy hole in the side of the mountain told its story.

* * *

_2 x 8 is 16 .. 4 x 4 is 16 .. 4 x 8 is 32 .. 8 x 8 is 64 .. _

Skye groaned inwardly as she tired of her mental math drills. When would her mother be back? Surely it didn't take an hour to "run down to the market", even in this weather.

She looked up hopefully as her curtain swished, but was met with disappointment immediately as Josh's cheerful face poked in. Still, she was _really_ bored, and even her former best friend was better than nothing. She tried to summon a smile, but it felt like her face was frozen. She realised too late that she'd been staring blankly at him, but luckily for her, Josh didn't seem to notice. He swept the curtain aside smoothly and came into the small room.

"Oh good, you're not asleep." After taking a quick glance at her chart, he leaned on the end of her bed. "Thought I'd come say hi to the newest member of the Infirmary club!"

His grin faded as Skye's expression remained unchanged.

".. sorry, that sounded way funnier in my head."

The side of Skye's mouth twisted dryly.

"Don't worry about it. You've never been the most sensitive of people."

Josh pasted a polite smile on his face.

"Well, I'm workin' on it."

"What, Tasha been giving you lessons?"

It was meant to be a playfully teasing comment, but Josh's reaction made her wish she could throw herself off the bed. Her visitor shifted uncomfortably.

"Skye-"

Skye held a hand up to halt him, suddenly feeling sick to death of the awkwardness.

"Stop. It's fine. Things have been weird enough lately. I don't want them to be weird with you." She patted the side of her bed, even managing to muster up a fairly genuine smile. "Come talk to me. You have no idea how _boring_ it is in here."

She felt an inordinate sense of relief as the good-natured grin appeared again and he complied.

"Hey, careful. This is my home away from home you're talking about."

He dropped down on the side of the bed a little too enthusiastically. After Skye had recovered from the jolt and accepted the shower of profuse apologies, she began to question him.

"So .. any news? Ogawa told me about the landslide."

"Yeah, Dad just got back. He wouldn't say much, but it wasn't good. He gets that weird look in his eye when he can't figure out a problem." He laughed at his own attempt to imitate his father's expressions, noting with satisfaction that Skye's weak smile was quickly transforming into a bright grin. "Rumour has it some people are preparing to walk out."

Skye raised her eyebrows a little.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Let's just say we have a mutiny on our hands, the river's a raging torrent, and we're all gonna die!" He smiled brightly in blatant defiance of the fact. Skye laughed a little and shook her head.

"Great."

"I know, right?" Josh fell silent for a moment as he studied her face. "Hey, are you okay?"

Skye looked up in surprise.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, there was the whole 'almost-dying' thing, but .."

Josh narrowed his eyes a little.

"Skye, come on. It's me. I know we've had a rough time lately, but you can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

Skye hesitated. As sweet as the sentiment was, she knew it was partly wishful thinking. She couldn't tell him anything. Not anymore. While she was considering this, another movement at the door caused her to glance upward. Josh followed her gaze curiously. His eyelids lowered a moment later as he caught sight of the intruder.

"This is a private conversation. Do you mind?"

Lucas shrugged, leaning casually on the end of the cupboard that created part of the divide between "rooms".

"No, not at all. Be my guest."

Yet he remained there. Josh waited for a moment and then turned back to Skye with a roll of his eyes.

"Your criminally-inclined friend is really annoying."

"He's not my-"

Skye pulled herself up short. Friend. Were they friends? She supposed, after all this time, they must be. Still, he wasn't really the sort of person one thought of as a friend. She glanced up at him, but if Lucas had heard the fractured statement, he certainly wasn't showing any indication of it. Skye shook away her confusion as Josh turned back to her and stood up, trying valiantly to hide his growing annoyance.

"Well, I should probably get back anyway. Got .. doctor stuff to do .."

Skye smiled up at him.

"Right."

He put a hand on her arm.

"I .. we were really worried about you."

"I know." Skye's smile faded for a moment, but then managed to pick itself up again. "Thanks for coming. It was nice to have some company."

Josh nodded.

"I'll check on you later."

He squeezed her arm a little and then made his way toward the doorway. Lucas stepped aside obligingly, as though he was seeing the young doctor out of his own house after hosting a dinner party. Josh looked at him calmly as he exited, his eyes conveying the statement that he knew exactly what Lucas was up to and he wasn't getting away with a single thing. Lucas nodded slightly in return. Truth be told, he was mildly impressed by how confident and collected his adversary had managed to appear. Unfortunately, it had taken all of Josh's willpower to maintain the facade, and it collapsed the second he left their sight.

Lucas turned to Skye, his eyes lighting up with laughter momentarily as he managed to catch the faint "I _really_ hate him" from down the hall. Without waiting for an invitation, he approached and sat down carefully, occupying Josh's previous position on the side of her bed.

"Well, this is incredibly dramatic, even for you." He glanced back toward the doorway as though he was worried Josh would turn the tables on him now and suddenly materialise there.

"You know, it took everything in my power not to go straight to his house and beat the pulp out of him when I found out what he did to you." He murmured, sounding almost as though he was simply talking to himself. "But I didn't."

Skye snorted.

"How noble." She watched with resignation as a water droplet lost its grip on a strand of his damp hair and fell onto her clean blanket. "That doesn't sound like you."

Lucas turned back to her and shrugged.

"I knew you wouldn't like it. So I didn't."

Skye studied him blankly.

".. thank you."

"You're welcome." He grinned as she looked around at the blue curtains for the thousandth time and sighed, understanding the sentiment altogether too well.

"Not so much fun being cooped up in here, is it?"

Skye returned his gaze wearily.

"I dunno. It's a nice rest, I suppose."

Lucas snorted.

"Since when have you ever craved 'a nice rest'?"

Skye's resulting laugh sent a nasty twinge of pain through her stomach. Lucas looked on gravely as she recovered.

"Don't injure yourself."

She shot him an ungrateful look, but accepted his concern tolerantly.

"Ow .. alright, fine. I may be going .. slightly insane." She stared wryly around the room. "There's only so many things in here to count."

Another fleeting grin appeared on her visitor's face.

"Well, maybe this will help .."

Skye watched curiously as he produced a chess set she hadn't even realised he was holding. He set it up efficiently and within the space of a minute, they had begun to play. After a while, however, Lucas seemed to forget the game and sat watching her. After a prolonged period of waiting patiently for him to make his move, she finally looked up, but the berating she had been about to give him died on her tongue as she caught sight of his expression.

"Hey. You okay?"

His gaze fell to the chess board once again as he nodded absently.

"Things have been weird lately."

Skye scoffed.

"Yes."

He waited for some additional statement, but there was none. When several seconds had passed and she still didn't seem inclined to elaborate, he couldn't stand it any longer.

"So .. what is it then?" There was a note of desperation in the accompanying laugh. "I mean .. do you hate me?"

Skye frowned.

"There was a _time_ I hated you."

Lucas seemed to take this as her final word on the subject and sighed.

"I know. You had every right to."

Skye leaned carefully back against the bed frame, abandoning any thoughts of returning to the game for the moment.

"Yeah, I did." She stared around the room as she weighed up her reply. "But you know I don't hate you now, right? You've changed, I've changed .. I haven't hated you for a long time."

Lucas shrugged a little.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did, Skye. I wouldn't blame you at all." He put his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes. "But trust me, you couldn't hate me anymore than I hate myself."

Skye stared at the ceiling, getting the distinct feeling they'd had this conversation before, but not wanting to interrupt. Lucas evidently needed to get something off his chest. She turned back to him when he continued.

"I did things I'm not proud of .. all in the name of war, revenge .." He looked down at his hands, ignoring the game beside him. "She may have been the enemy at the time, but she didn't deserve to die."

Skye remained quiet. He seemed to be struggling with his words.

"It's surprising how easy it is .. to end someone's life. You point the gun, you pull the trigger, and it's over. They're gone. And you can never take it back."

"I know." Skye murmured.

Lucas glanced at her quickly and then seemed to return to his thoughts.

"At least she went fast. It would've been painless. There are a lot worse ways to die .."

He stared into space. Skye studied him, the haunted expression, the tired green eyes, made even paler by the dark rings encircling them. Suddenly his dream seemed to shatter and he jumped, bumping the side of the chess board sharply with his left hand. He grinned sheepishly at her and laughed a little, shaking his head.

"Sorry. Morbid conversation. My bedside manner could use some work."

Skye reached out and caught the fugitive king that had decided to desert his fellows and roll away following the board's most recent upheaval.

"Well, if it helps, I'm hoping you don't get much more time to practice it."

"You'll be out of here before you know it."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before she finally built up the nerve to ask the question that had been on the tip of her tongue for several minutes.

"You've been having nightmares again, haven't you?"

He threw a brief smile in her direction before rearranging one of his pawns back to the centre of its square.

"I believe I was about to execute my elaborate plan."

It was probably the least subtle change of subject in history, but Skye mercifully let the matter drop and they continued the game. Nevertheless, a few minutes later, the match stalled again. Lucas was once more taking an unusually long time to decide on a move. Finally, he flicked his bishop, knocking it over. Skye snorted.

"Somehow I don't think that's-"

"He was right, you know." Lucas interrupted, looking up at her suddenly. "She _would've_ been ashamed of me. She would've been horrified."

He shook his head slowly, the resulting laugh sounding more like a choke. Skye realised they had switched the subject of the conversation and were now apparently discussing his mother .. or Lucas was anyway. She just seemed to be along for the ride. He stared at her seriously.

"She hated violence of any kind. She was the gentlest person in the world. She tried to raise me the same way, but despite her best efforts .. it would seem she failed. _This_ is her legacy."

He threw his hands out helplessly and laughed again. He seemed to have mastered the art of empty, soulless laughs. Skye wondered why he bothered. They certainly didn't make _her_ feel like smiling. She couldn't imagine they made him feel any better. As he fell back to studying the blue curtain in front of him, she shifted, trying not to upset the board, but feeling grossly inadequate to deal with the situation. She wished he would go to the colony counsellor or Jim or Malcolm, but he still refused to talk to anyone besides her if he could help it. She took a deep breath and watched him for a moment.

"You don't realise, do you? You don't see how much you've changed."

He looked at her doubtfully, but she could see a hint of something threatening to rise up inside of him. It was too much to hope for that his mother could be proud of him after all this time, and yet he wished it to be true more than anything in the world. Skye suddenly became aware she had to tread very carefully. She pulled herself up again and considered her words.

"Not everyone gets a second chance. You did. But you've made the most of it. You're a better person now. You'll never make up for your mistakes, but you've moved past them."

She hesitated. Her next words were the ones he was really dying to hear, the least she could do was say them. They were the truth, after all. Why was it so hard to just spit them out? She took a deep breath and made herself continue.

"I think that .. wherever she is now, she is proud of you. I really do."

He stared blankly at her for a moment, his face barely changing. When the tears began to threaten to come, he shook his head and cleared his throat, avoiding her gaze in favour of examining the ceiling.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Skye closed her eyes tightly for a moment as though she was in pain. What she was about to say wasn't ideal, but it had been nagging at her of late and now was as good a time as any. She opened her eyes and followed his gaze to the white cloths on the ceiling.

"And .. I'm sorry. I've been kind of .." She hesitated as he looked back at her and decided to start again. "I'm not .. I haven't .. been the type of friend you deserve .. lately."

He shook his head and smiled slightly as his eyes fell to the blanket under his hand.

"On the contrary. You've been far more than I deserve."

Skye breathed a sigh of relief internally. Easier than expected. She put her hand out to him.

"Friends?"

Lucas' smile widened as he shook her outstretched hand.

"Friends."

"Good. Now I won't feel so bad about absolutely destroying you."

Lucas snorted.

"We are sure of ourselves this afternoon, aren't we?"

He thought for a moment and then smiled deviously, moving his queen to the left.

Skye raised her eyebrows.

"Interesting .. check."

Lucas groaned for a moment, moving his pawn in front of his king. Skye grinned maliciously as she moved to intercept another of his pieces.

"Didn't see that, didja?"

Lucas smiled patiently at her for a moment and then swung his bishop out of the corner to trap in her king.

"Checkmate."

But behind the triumphant grin, in the back of his mind, Deborah's words continued to echo.

_"Skye must never know .."_

* * *

"I can't believe you're even considering this."

Elisabeth set a plate down very firmly on the kitchen counter. Jim tried not to visibly wince. His wife rarely got this worked up about things, but when she did, it was usually for good reason. He summoned the remainder of his patience and tried again.

"Malcolm believes-"

"That's another thing!" Elisabeth dumped a cup of peculiar-looking beans into a pot with great vigour. "This is _Malcolm_ we're talking about! I mean, do you really trust _Malcolm_ with the lives of your family?"

"Yes, I do." Jim reached out and took his wife's shoulders, turning her to face him gently. "Liz, I think this is our best chance."

"Don't 'Liz' me!" Elisabeth shrugged him off and continued her energetic cooking. "It's pure insanity. And I can guarantee you no one else will go for it. We should get out while we have the chance."

"We can't!" Jim placed his fist down on the counter a little harder than intended, making Elisabeth turn around in surprise. Jim shook his head. "I .. I'm sorry. But this is the only way. Please. You have to trust me."

Elisabeth sighed, appearing to calm down a little. They stood in silence for a few moments until finally she shrugged resignedly.

"I want to see the plans for myself before we go to the council."

"Done!" Jim smiled for the first time in 10 minutes. "I'll go get them right now."

"No .. wait." His wife's subdued voice halted his immediate sprint to the door. "Don't go out there again. It can wait till tomorrow."

Jim frowned as he turned back to her. Elisabeth had left the kitchen and was now sitting down at the table with her head in her hands.

"Elisabeth?"

"Hm?"

Jim took the seat beside her and watched her anxiously.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Elisabeth looked up at him wearily.

"How much longer can we go on like this? One thing after another. There's been a new crisis at every turn. The floods, the medical equipment-"

"I told you, I'll make sure it gets fixed."

"It's just not good enough, Jim!" Elisabeth snapped sharply. "Skye could've died."

"I know, I know." Jim took her clenched hands in his and gradually felt them relax. "But it's not your fault."

All the fight suddenly seemed to go out of his exhausted wife as she dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"Things have to let up soon, don't they?"

Jim put an arm around her and shook her gently.

"Smile, Elisabeth. If our ever-optimistic chief science officer's word is anything to go by, the worst is yet to come."

Elisabeth scoffed quietly.

"That sounds like Malcolm."

Jim was silent for a few moments and then continued with a mischievious grin.

"Hey, don't worry. Maybe Taylor'll come riding in on his white gallimimus and rescue us yet."

Elisabeth released a shout of laughter and turned to study him curiously.

"You really don't think he's dead, do you?"

Jim shrugged.

"I don't believe anything without seeing the evidence. Harlon's word isn't good enough for me. For all I know, he might be holding Taylor somewhere. And besides, Lucas swears he isn't dead, and he's supposed to be the expert after all."

"Or he tries to make everyone think he is."

"Hm .."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Elisabeth leaned on the table. "I can't help but think they could've sorted themselves out if they'd only listened to each other. Guess it's too late now."

Jim raised an eyebrow.

"Since when is my wife so pessimistic?"

"I'm just tired."

"Yeah, we're all tired."

It took Jim a moment to notice Elisabeth's irritated look.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I didn't mean to insinuate that you didn't have a _reason_ to be .. I'll make dinner, shall I?"

Elisabeth laughed as he stood and hurriedly moved toward the counter.

"I suppose I'll help you .. on one condition."

Jim winced.

".. what is it."

"You take your foot out of your mouth before we start eating, or none of us will have an appetite."

Jim laughed with relief.

"_That_ I can do."

* * *

Taylor stared into the crackling fire.

_Tonight, he would do it. In a few minutes, he would be with his wife_. He peered around into the solid darkness. _No sign of it. Good_. He took a deep breath, pressing the glittering blade of his hunting knife to his throat. As he tensed his muscles for the final time, he caught sight of a familiar scaly face through the flames.

_No, not now! He was so close! _

The ugly beast had the worst timing. He had tried to get rid of it before. He had waved the knife like a madman and screamed until he was hoarse, but the creature remained unmoved. Taylor stared at it for as long as he could, but the unblinking dinosaur had an uncanny talent for unnerving him. Groaning, he dropped the knife and allowed it to clatter loudly on the rocks as he put his head in his hands. _Why wouldn't it just leave him alone and let him get on with it? _Looking up a few seconds later, he screamed pointlessly at the dinosaur through the tears in his eyes.

"GET OUT! Why do you ALWAYS show up when I don't want you here?! You know I can't do it with you watching!"

Nevertheless, the Kaprosuchus continued to watch him coldly, his sharp eyes boring into the man opposite him. Taylor finally ran out of patience.

"FINE. You know what?! Come and kill me yourself! That's what you want, isn't it?! COME FINISH THE JOB. DO ME A FAVOUR FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE."

He spread his arms out dramatically and watched the beast across from him, waiting for the sudden pounce of death to claim him. The dinosaur stared at him for a moment and then sat, looking as though he couldn't be bothered killing something that was already dead inside. He preferred a challenge. This wasn't it. After what seemed like hours, Taylor finally retrieved his knife and put it away, slumping down against the rock wall in defeat.

"Fine, you win. One more day."

They lay there in a sort of strange companionship for several hours, two natural-born enemies divided by the slowly dying fire. Eventually, the flames withered down to glowing embers, and Taylor fell into a hopeless sleep. Two bright eyes watched over him in silence as the cold night wore on. Just before dawn, the Kaprosuchus slunk away.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Just .. calm down."

"I will not calm down. Do you hear yourself?!" Boylan turned incredulously to Reilly and Elisabeth on his right. "Does he hear himself?!"

"Boylan-"

"Oh no, don't even think about it. This is insane, even for you! And you!" He turned on the chief science officer accusingly. "Surely _you_ should know better. Even I can see the pressure of the water will break those windows!"

Malcolm shook his head.

"Not those windows. They're built to withstand an electromagnetic blast. We've done multiple tests. The houses have all been checked and double-checked for weaknesses. They can take it."

Reilly looked a little apprehensive, but said nothing. Malcolm concluded his presentation and picked up his tablet, trying to ignore the rising feeling of agitation in the room.

"You're right, there are a couple of downsides. One, we're safe until the water reaches the roof. Those roofs weren't built to withstand much weight, but we're fairly confident the rain will let up by then. When the river breaks away and comes down on us - and it will, it shouldn't push the floodwaters up high enough to reach the roof either. At least not for a few days. We've already factored it in."

"Oh. Great. That makes me feel loads better." Boylan rolled his eyes as if the whole concept was a rather large joke. "And the second thing?"

Malcolm cast a quick glance at Jim and continued.

"We can only sustain it for a matter of days, and then all of our energy resources will be gone. We'll be running on fumes. The colony will go dark afterwards, until we can bring back more ore or build up our power reserves again. We'll be open to attack, no security system, no medical equipment, no guns."

"It's a risk we'll have to take." Jim spoke up in support of the plan before Boylan could get a word in. "I'll send out an emergency alert and instruct people to stay inside until further notice."

"You are unbelievable. This is the _worst_ idea I have ever heard in my life." Boylan leaned on the table and stared around, shaking his head in bemusement. "Even _Taylor_ never came up with a scheme like this. You're all mad."

Jim resisted the urge to grab the man's neck and shake him silly. The assembled colony council was taking the proposed plan of action about as well as he had expected. Thankfully, he already had Elisabeth and Malcolm on his side going into it, but even Reilly had taken a fair bit of convincing. He still wasn't sure she was completely convinced, but she had decided to keep any further doubts to herself and take his suggestion as an order - another development that the commander wasn't entirely pleased about. Boylan, of course, was fighting the decision tooth and nail, and had now taken to appealing to the better judgement of his most likely allies.

"Mira, please, surely you must see that we have to get out of here while we have the chance. Staying here is suicide!"

The leader of the Sixers had been silent up until this point, but since an answer was now required, she responded calmly.

"I've seen a lot of people die out there. I have Sienna to think about now."

"Little Leah managed to survive just fine."

"Leah's different." Mira evidently wasn't in the mood to explain herself. "Shannon wouldn't put his own family in danger. We're staying."

Boylan curled his lip and shook his head again in disbelief.

"Then more fool you."

Jim decided it was time to jump in. Mira looked as though she was about to spill someone's blood on the wooden floorboards.

"Look, I didn't want to have to do this, but I have no choice. Anyone who leaves this colony is on their own. Their houses will not be protected."

The bartender smiled smugly.

"Never thought you were the petty type, Commander."

"Lives come first." Jim's voice had taken on a stony edge that everyone except Boylan knew better than to mess with. "We take the shields off the empty houses so we can better protect the ones with colonists in them. Surely even you can see the sense in that."

The retired soldier growled under his breath.

"Careful .."

In the silence that followed, Boylan stared around the room and decided to change tactics. He smiled encouragingly, attempting to jog his listeners' memories and appeal to their better judgement.

"Look, contrary to popular opinion, we _can_ survive out there. We did it before the colony fences were up, we can do it again."

Jim met his gaze solidly.

"Did you have civilians with you then? And children?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Boylan, will you _think_. Think about all the people that aren't military trained. Think about all the children. Think about the old people and the sick people and the terrified people that can't defend themselves. We can't look after them all." He sighed in resignation as Boylan stared back at him, unmoved, "Look, leave if you like. Run. Save your own skin. I'm trying to save everyone else's."

The Australian held his hands up defensively.

"Now that's not fair. I'm simply trying to make you see reason."

Jim's temper was wearing thin. They were wasting time, something they now had precious little of.

"This isn't a dictatorship. If you feel you should go, then go. Take your life into your own hands. I won't stand in your way. But I think you're making a big mistake."

Boylan was silent for a minute, staring grimly around the group. Quite obviously, they all agreed with the crazy plan, though how Jim Shannon had managed to convert every single one of them was unimaginable. Then again, they were all in his pocket anyway, weren't they? Well, not so Thomas Boylan.

"Fine." He folded his arms and pursed his lips stubbornly. "Stay here and drown, though I'm not too proud to say I'll be sad to see it happen. Still .. it's your funeral."

The owner of the bar-turned-swimming-pool next to the Command Centre smiled unpleasantly.

"Say goodbye to your sweet children for me. I wish you all the very best, though I doubt I'll ever have the pleasure of seeing you again." He sauntered toward the door and gave a last glance over his shoulder at them. "Cheerio."

* * *

Carter cast another suspicious glance over his shoulder. Still no one there, yet he couldn't seem to shake the feeling he was being watched. It only seemed to be growing stronger as he neared the fence. The Sixer shook himself a little. Nevermind. A few more seconds and he'd be home free.

8 steps, 6 steps, 2 ..

Just before he reached his usual escape spot, a shadowy figure leapt out of the gloom and intercepted him. Carter's heart jumped sharply into his throat, but his momentary terror turned to annoyance when he realised who it was.

"What's your problem?! You scared the living .."

Carter trailed off as Lucas raised a metallic object in front of his face.

"In the Sixer camp, under my bunk, in the green box, you'll find the main internals of this. Here's what it looks like." He placed a small scrap of material in the Sixer's hand. "I need you to get it and bring it to me."

Carter folded his arms.

"Why do you need it so badly?"

Lucas peered back at him from under his hood.

"None of your business. Can you get it or not?"

"I _might_ be able to."

"Good." Lucas ignored the Sixer's noncommittal reply and shoved the device casing back into his pocket. "If there's a couple of parts missing, don't worry, but that chip I need. It'd take months to recode it, and I can't do that without someone getting suspicious."

"Can I go now?" Carter raised an eyebrow as Lucas stepped aside to let him get through. "Thank you."

"Oh and don't .. tell Mira about it." He held the Sixer's gaze for a moment as the rain continued to roll off the hood of his jacket. "This stays between you and me."

Carter shrugged and squeezed through the gap, melting rapidly into the wilderness on the other side of the fence.

"Whatever."

* * *

The gate rose slowly, creaking and grumbling as the rusty mechanics were forced to do their job for the first time in over a week. The sound was an ominous one, seeming surprisingly loud to the ears of the solemn crowd that had gathered to watch the event. Harlon and Boylan stood closest to the gate, speaking to one another in quiet tones and apparently ignoring the curious spectators that had braved the deepening water to form two lines on either side of the street. To the left of the two men stood another small group, huddled together and waiting in silence. It came as a surprise to no one that the vast majority of the group members were Sixers. More notable perhaps was the fact that there was a smattering of very unhappy colonists added to the mix.

The remaining Terra Novans stood watching with something akin to scorn. There was no sympathy, no fond farewells. They had made their decision, they had chosen their side, and now they could jolly well stand there and bear the piercing glares of their former friends in silence. They were deserters now, and deserters gained no favour with the loyalists. Perhaps it would be a mercy after all if they never came back. They surely wouldn't be welcome here anymore. They were traitors, abandoning their friends and their colony for their own interest. Well, goodbye and good riddance.

Jim stood close to the end of the line nearest the gate, Mira on one side, Josh on the other. He had broken the plan to the community about an hour before, and while there had been many anxious faces and frantic questions, the outcry hadn't been quite as great as he had been preparing himself for. It would seem Malcolm's calculated predictions had been correct - the majority of the colony had chosen to trust him after all.

Jim sighed internally as the gate reached its peak and quieted. Unlike the vast percentage of the colony, he felt neither resentful nor betrayed by the choice to leave. A person had to do what was best for their family. He watched the huddled group a little sadly. Chances were, this was the last time he would ever see them - the jungle didn't give them very good odds. But they were free to go as they wished. He had no desire to run a dictatorship. Besides, under different circumstances, he may very well have done exactly the same thing.

A sideways glance at the former leader of the Sixers revealed nothing. Mira's expression was unreadable. Jim turned back to the scene in front of him where the two men seemed to be finishing up their conversation.

"I'd sleep a lot easier if you were going with them."

"Are you asking me to?"

Mira's flat reply didn't inspire much hope, and yet .. Jim looked at her quickly.

"Would you consider it? You'd be their best chance."

Mira was silent for a few moments. Secretly, she was more than pleased at this turn of events. Staying inside the colony and putting her life into someone else's hands seemed to go against everything in her, but for her daughter's sake, she had been willing to make the sacrifice. Still ..

Jim was watching her carefully.

"Your home will be protected. I'll make sure of it. And we'll look after Sienna-"

"No." Mira turned to him quickly. "If I go, Sienna comes. I can protect her from a few prehistoric reptiles. I can't protect her if all of this goes sideways."

Jim looked over at the young subject of the conversation, who was standing nearby happily talking to a classmate.

"Very well."

Mira folded her arms and watched as the smaller crowd gathered and prepared to set off, Harlon and Boylan at the helm. It was apparent that they were both vying for the sole leadership position, and it didn't seem to be going down well with either one of them. Mira turned to Jim with a flicker of satisfaction.

"I'll see you when this is all over, Shannon. Don't forget you owe me."

Jim smiled at the solemn dark face.

"Thank you."

As he set off toward the closest members of the deserting group, Mira turned away and gestured to her daughter.

"Come on. We're going with them. It's time for your next lesson in survival."

Sienna stopped mid-sentence and looked up, startled.

"But .. are you sure it's safe?!"

"No."

Jim was shaking a middle-aged man's hand a few metres away.

"Take care. I want you all back in one piece."

The man wrenched his hand carefully from Jim's grip, gave an awkward nod, and managed to escape around the other side of the crowd. Before the commander had the chance to capture anyone else, he found himself left behind. The colonists gave him a rather wide (bordering on ridiculous) berth as they passed. Not one person would meet his eyes. Jim shrugged and returned to take his place beside his son.

They watched the solemn parade in silence as it trailed out of the colony and began the precarious and tedious journey around the rim of the pool, picking their way carefully through the shallowest parts. Mira and Sienna had infiltrated the group as unobtrusively as possible and thus far, the leaders hadn't noticed they'd gained a couple of extra members. Sooner or later, they would realise, but by that stage, it would be too late. Mira had silently and smoothly taken the crown of leadership from both of them, and they hadn't even been aware of it.

Josh frowned as the group waded heavily away. It made one tired just to watch them. He glanced at his father and spoke in a low voice.

"Can't help but wonder if we should be going with them."

He caught Tasha's eye from across the street and smiled a little. Jim exchanged a look with Reilly, who had stepped into Mira's place on his other side.

"I fully believe you could survive it, Josh." He hesitated meaningfully. "But there are some people that would never make it past the gates."

Josh fell silent, his eyes still focused on that particular spot across from him. He didn't bring up the subject again.

* * *

"Maddy! Hi!"

Maddy walked into the small cubicle awkwardly.

"Hi. I heard you - They told me what happened! Are you okay?!"

Skye laughed as the younger girl came in and sat on the bed, then immediately sprang up again.

"Sorry. Can I .. ?"

"You can sit there." Skye reassured her, and Maddy sighed with relief and sat carefully down onto the bed once more.

"And in answer to your first question, I'm just fine. Be out of here before you know it .." Skye trailed off and watched Maddy closely. "Are _you_ okay?"

Maddy smiled a little and looked around the room.

"Yeah, I'm .." Her voice wobbled a little as she responded. "I'm fine."

"Maddy!" Skye pulled herself up to a sitting position as tears filled the other girl's eyes. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing!" Maddy laughed and shook her head. "It's just .. the wedding's getting closer, and Mark's been so preoccupied lately .."

Skye frowned.

"We've all been preoccupied. Have you looked outside?"

"I know, I know!" Maddy sniffed and tried to pull herself together. "And I know it's stupid to be worrying about the wedding when the colony might not even be around in a few days, I just .. you're right, you're right! It's stupid."

"Maddy!" Skye laughed in bewilderment. "I never said it was stupid. I don't even know what it is yet! Tell me."

Maddy sighed and began a muddled attempt at an explanation, her words gradually building up speed until they were tumbling out like oranges off a runaway wagon.

"It's just .. I was looking at my things this morning, and seeing what I'd need when I moved and what I could get rid of .. weird timing, but you know, they said it was better to go about our normal business since all we can do is wait." At Skye's slightly confused nod, Maddy continued. "And it suddenly hit me. I have to _move_. One of these days - assuming we don't all die - I'm going to have to walk out that door and it'll never, ever be the same again. I just .. I can't bear the thought of leaving them. My family means _everything_ to me."

As her voice began to shake again, Skye leaned forward and put her hand on the other girl's shoulder.

"Maddy, it's not a big colony. The Lab's right next door! You'll see them all the time!"

"It won't be the same!" Maddy responded with more passion than she'd meant to, and immediately looked apologetic. ".. sorry."

Skye shrugged a little as the younger girl shook her head.

"Back in Chicago, I wasn't really so good at making friends, so my family was my whole world. I was heartbroken when Dad was taken away .. and then Zoe. But we made it in the end. We've had a couple of awesome years together .. I mean, besides the whole Lucas-imminent-destruction thing .." Skye tilted her head in agreement and smiled a little as Maddy continued. ".. and now I'm leaving. And it won't be the same! It'll never be the same again."

She put her head in her hands. Skye opened her mouth to reply, but Maddy looked up with tears streaming down her face and was talking once more.

"I'll miss them, that's all. I'll miss Zoe's snoring in the middle of the night - she says _I_ snore, but she's definitely the snorer - and Josh's stupid jokes over breakfast, and Mom and Dad .. they won't get to say goodnight!"

Maddy choked at this point and fell silent, the tears still pouring down her cheeks in an attempt to rival the rain outside. Skye patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"I know it won't be the same, Maddy, but you'll still see them. More than you probably want to." She smiled mischievously. "And I don't think you're gonna get away from Josh's stupid jokes that easily."

Maddy laughed and blinked hard at the roof.

"I know it's hard to understand. And I do love Mark! I do. But you should've heard Zoe the other day. She doesn't want me to leave."

"Of course she doesn't, but she'll get used to it! And she gets her own room now, right?" Skye pointed out hopefully. "That's gotta be a bonus."

Maddy smiled.

"Sometimes I think she'd sleep at the end of my bed every night if she could." She sighed and turned to Skye. "Sorry for dumping all this on you. I know it's hard to understand, and I came here to try and cheer _you_ up .."

Skye laughed as Maddy suddenly looked appalled with herself.

"It's fine. Trust me. To be honest, I'm kind of glad you did come. I haven't really known what I'm supposed to be doing - you know, with this whole .. _bridesmaids_ thing .." She forced herself not to grimace as she said the word. ".. but I had a feeling I wasn't doing it properly."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Maddy waved her worries aside airily. "If it helps, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing either. Just .. let me come and cry all over your linen once in a while and we'll call it even!"

Skye choked with laughter and put out her hand to the other girl.

"Deal."

Maddy shook it and then leaned forward, hugging Skye gently. When she pulled back, her tears had already begun to dry.

"Thank you. Really."

Skye shrugged.

"Don't mention it. My door's always open."

"Guess I chose the right person for the job, didn't I?"

Skye's snort was reminiscent of one of Malcolm's.

"Did you?"

Maddy grinned back at her.

"I'm sure of it." She stood and gestured to a nearby vase. "And sorry. I would've brought you flowers, but they're all dead."

"Eh, it's the thought that counts."

Maddy stood in silence for a moment, wringing her hands nervously as she looked around the room. Skye watched her in amusement. Finally, Maddy smiled at her and took a step back.

"I'll let you .. get some rest now."

"Bye, Maddy."

Skye waved as the younger girl left the room and then sank back into her pillows happily, her ears once again tuning into the ongoing barrage of rain on the roof.

* * *

Josh trudged toward the Infirmary, dragging one leg forward after the other. The water had been coming down from the sky fairly consistently all day. As a result, it was practically thigh-height now - one practically had to leap over the shield wall to get in or out of the building. Anyone shorter than Josh would struggle to get over it at all and would be trapped on either side. He continued dragging his feet forward, the water resisting his every movement. His legs burned like he was walking through lava instead. He thanked his lucky stars that it was his last trip. One more trip to the Infirmary and then home. The curfew was set for an hour's time. Everyone who wasn't isolated in a building by then would be locked out. Anyone inside would be shut in. Any provisions that were to be made should have already been made. The colony was eerily quiet, save the faint plipping of the raindrops and the low splashing of the water. The streets were deserted .. that is, almost deserted. A splash behind him made Josh spin around nervously. As he regained his balance, he frowned. There was no one there. He glanced around quickly, his nerves growing more on edge with every passing second. Silence. The sooner he got to the Infirmary, the better. Turning, he almost yelled in fright as something exploded out of the water in front of him.

"HYAAAA!"

Leah flicked the water out of her eyes and cracked up laughing as Josh's knees struggled to hold him up.

"You should've seen your face!"

"What are you doing?!" Josh snapped. "You should be inside! What are you doing out here?! You're soaked!"

"So are you." The girl answered reasonably.

"If you're still swimming around come lockdown, you'll be stuck out here. Does anyone know where you are?!"

Leah floated calmly in front of him and rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, Mom. I'll get back in time."

"And you shouldn't be swimming around in this anyway." The young doctor looked around at the dirty water, growing more displeased with the situation by the second. "You don't know what's in here. You could get really sick .. or worse."

Leah sighed loudly and splashed him a little.

"Calm down. Worrying isn't good for your heart."

Josh studied her for a moment and shook his head, sloshing past her as elegantly as he could.

"Go home right now. We're both on a time limit here."

He struggled forward several painful steps before he noticed the girl paddling easily beside him. He glanced sideways at her, trying to look as authoritative as he could. She seemed to be managing this journey a lot easier than he was. Maybe he should be giving in and paddling along too. He shook the thought out of his head.

"Leah. You have to go. You can't follow me."

Leah grinned.

"It's not like you're hard to keep up with. I know old men who walk faster than you."

Josh remained silent and steeled himself against the growing burn in his legs. His companion decided to change the subject.

"Hey, I heard you got an Ovosaur staying in the Lab. Maddy told me he was yours. Pretty cool!"

"Yep."

"You called him Inky, right?"

"Yep."

To Josh's great relief, Leah fell silent temporarily. Even under normal circumstances, he was uncomfortable with her attention, but this was ridiculous. Leah was searching her brain for another interesting topic. Suddenly, she brightened up.

"Did you hear what they found at the autobay this morning?"

Josh snorted, shaking his head.

"You are such a little busybody."

"Well, do you want to know or what?"

He glanced at her. At least this was taking his mind off his laborious task.

".. fine. What?"

Leah's eyes shone as she paused for dramatic effect.

"A giant centipede! Hid under the hood of one of the Rovers to try get away from the water. Max almost had a heart attack!"

Josh chuckled.

"Poor Max."

"Yeah, poor Max." Leah agreed. "But it was funny."

"What, you were there?"

"No, I just-" Leah stopped abruptly and grabbed Josh's arm. "What was that?!"

"What?!" Josh glanced around sharply, at once nervous and jumpy again.

"I heard something .."

After a minute of silence, Josh glanced at her in annoyance and wrenched his arm away from her grip.

"That's not funny, you know."

Leah stared up at him in dismay.

"No, I really did hear something! Honest!"

"Uh-huh."

Josh had barely started walking again when he found his arm captured once more.

"LOOK."

He turned in surprise to see a rather large wave making its way towards them.

"What-"

There was barely a second to react before the wall of water ran right over the top of them and struck the side of a nearby building with a smack. Josh emerged from the catapulting water a few seconds later completely drenched. He pulled Leah up beside him, spluttering and looking like a small drowned rat. She came up with a great deal less enthusiasm this time than she had several minutes earlier. Josh released her arm when she had found her feet.

"Where did that come from?!"

"It almost swept us away!"

"Would have if I hadn't grabbed you." Josh waited for a moment and then rolled his eyes at her. "You're welcome?"

Leah pushed her soggy blonde hair out of her eyes and stared around suspiciously.

"Wow. There's only one reasonable explanation for this."

Josh looked doubtful.

".. which is .."

Leah swayed along with the up-and-down motion of the water, staring toward the looming fence with certainty.

"There's obviously a sea monster out there that wants to destroy us so he can take over the colony."

Josh snorted.

"You've been spending too much time with Zoe."

The smaller girl looked up at him disapprovingly.

"Oh yeah? And who's soaked now?"

Josh rolled his eyes again and shook the residual water out of his dripping hair, finally resigning himself to his fate and sinking down to swim the rest of the way back to the Infirmary.

"Come on."

* * *

"You don't understand-"

"No, YOU don't understand .. with all due respect .. ma'am." The agitated soldier forced himself to maintain a civil tone of voice as a warning glance told him he was on very thin ice. "The scorpions are bad enough, but now we have these .. things to deal with as well! My men can't-"

He was interrupted then as the screens around the room began to flicker madly. The blonde scientist turned away immediately to begin messing with some cables and he realised he'd lost her. There was little he could do but watch in silence as she worked. Finally, she smacked the side of a nearby comms box with great enthusiasm. The sound of the metallic impact on her bare hand made him flinch, but the screen flickered again and then continued on as normal.

"This RAIN." Kensinge sighed and turned back to the intruder impatiently. "Look, the spinosaurs come to shore to snack on the scorpions. They're just looking for food, and two water predators are much easier to deal with than a thousand of these dog-sized crustaceans, correct? Herd the pulmonoscorpius in that direction and let them be. Just stay out of the water."

The soldier's whole frame slumped in defeat as she turned her back on him.

"We can't keep going on like this. They're like a plague we just can't shake. We've already sustained heavy losses."

Kensinge barely appeared to be listening anymore. She squinted at the closest screen, her face far too close to it. Her subordinate wondered vaguely if he should tell her that her nose was about to leave dirty streaks on the plexiglass. Before he could make up his mind, she spoke up.

"How heavy?"

"Twelve."

_"Twelve?"_ Kensinge turned from her screens incredulously. "We've lost twelve men?"

"And women." The soldier replied, looking disheartened. "The scorpions are so fast. Lightning fast. And the poison's so toxic, they die almost instantly."

"Venom." The scientist corrected absently.

"Whatever."

Ordinarily, her soldiers would be severely reprimanded for speaking to her this way, but the woman in front of him obviously had other things on her mind.

"And the scientists in 2151 still haven't come up with an antidote?"

"With respect, ma'am, I doubt it'd make a difference. The poi- .. venom .." He corrected himself. ".. just works too quickly. We wouldn't be able to counteract the effects fast enough. We don't even have enough time to get the wounded to the medic tent."

"Hm." Kensinge abandoned her screens and wandered toward the door, leaning on the doorframe and looking out thoughtfully. "What about a vaccine?"

The soldier shrugged.

"Might work. You'd know more about that than me."

"Yes .." Kensinge glanced back at him for a moment. "Anything else?"

He nodded wearily.

"We've had a message from future command."

_Now_ she was truly interested. She looked right into his eyes for a few seconds and then nodded, pulling the hood of her anorak over her head and stepping out into the rain.

"Walk with me."

The soldier and the scientist wandered along the outskirts of the camp in the rain as he finished his briefing. Finally, they reached the top of a low rocky hill and paused to gaze about them.

They had settled on the edge of a wide bay, and it was here that the camp had been built. A couple of docks had been haphazardly constructed near the middle of the crescent - it was here that anyone who was feeling particularly brave could try to catch some food. Their ever-changing camp stretched out in a semi-circle around the bay, then expanded inland, where her wooden shack could be seen directly in the centre, made all the more obvious by the giant antenna above it. To the left of the camp, a sharp rocky cliff stood guard, and the large waves foamed and crashed violently against it. To the right, an odd plain of hairy grass stretched out for miles and then dissolved once again into sand. Unlike the sand of the Badlands, the sand surrounding the bay was fine and soft, though of course recently it had been transformed into the thick, wet substance that they were now tramping through.

The previously-mentioned giant scorpions speckled the sandy landscape here and there. Every now and then one would get too close to the bank and a large aquatic creature would suddenly charge out of the water and crunch it up. The exact type of animal varied, most commonly a small sarcosuchus or sometimes a spinosaur - there was one in particular which was becoming quite a familiar sight on the outskirts of the camp. Very occasionally the long neck of a large plesiosaur would snake out of the water abruptly and retreat just as rapidly with the unfortunate scorpion in its grasp. The sandy embankment dropped off very sharply a metre or two from the beach and with the wide variety of aquatic predators around, the men had learned very early on that swimming was rather a high risk activity. Some of the boaters that made the short trip back and forth from the future had described seeing giant squids with glowing red eyes and phantom rays that disappeared when you shone a light on them and all manner of wild creatures under the murky depths, but Kensinge dealt only in what she could see for herself. She may have been a scientist, but she was a reasonable enough person besides the fact.

She looked to the south, where the flickering lights of the Badlands were just visible over the horizon. This world had its price, but it was a vast improvement on the world they had left behind - monster scorpions nonwithstanding.

They stood in silence for some time overlooking Base Zero, each one occupied with their own thoughts. Finally, the scientist was jolted out of her daydream by a tap on the arm. She followed the soldier's gaze back across the water to see a blue flash appearing out on the middle, the electric glow made quite a lot more visible in contrast to the dark clouds overhead.

"New shipment."

"Finally."

Kensinge only allowed the faint expression of relief to cross her face briefly before it disappeared again, but the soldier beside her saw it and smiled, turning back to the water to watch the welcome boat come in.

"Indeed."


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Skye dropped her bag onto the floor of the Barracks with a weary sigh.

This was to be her home until the water receded. A boat had been sent for her at the Infirmary a few minutes earlier. When dawn broke, the water had taken a small dip, allowing certain people to move about a little. Essential services were the last ones allowed to leave. Now the medical staff had to stay in the Infirmary, scientists were trapped in the Lab, and all members of the security team were sent to the Barracks (though, to be fair, the vast majority of them lived there anyway).

Skye looked up and around at the curious wood and bamboo structure. The Barracks had been put up hastily to suit a particular need for shelter. Of course, that was before the nanocarbon building materials had arrived from the future. Back then, there had only been a small bamboo fence for protection. If she remembered the story correctly (and she should, she'd heard it enough times), Taylor had erected several wickedly sharp bamboo spikes that were interwoven with the fence and served to deter any overly-curious locals. Legend had it that one morning, the soldiers had emerged to find a large Nykoraptor simply sitting on the fence and waiting for them, like a turkey on a spit. They quickly put the poor thing out of its misery, but they discovered something very important on that day - "Nykoraptor meat tastes like crap." Skye's eyes followed the narrow staircase upward as Taylor's voice echoed distantly through her head.

Dormitories were on the second floor - at opposite ends of the building and closely monitored. The recreation area was through a rough archway to the left, and the kitchen was to the right. Though the building seemed deserted, the constant murmur of noise spilling in from her right told a different story. She looked backwards out of the small window in the door. The original security team had had much the same survival instincts as the Sixers possessed and as a result, the Barracks were set on a small hill. If she was in exactly the right position, the Command Centre was just visible through the trees. Further back, though she couldn't make them out, the Lab and Infirmary buildings stood, and a short distance behind them was the Shannon house. Her mother would be there by now, keeping watch over Zoe during the flood lockdown while the other members of the family were called to various lines of duty elsewhere. Or perhaps, more appropriately, they were keeping watch over each other. Skye stood and listened curiously to the sudden gurgles of laughter coming from the kitchen.

She loved her family, of course, but secretly, she was a little relieved to get away for a while. Her mother watched her like a hawk, and even Lucas - who always managed to be there somehow - never seemed to stop fluttering about like a mother goose .. though she doubted he'd appreciated the comparison. She smiled to herself. In fact, she was sure he wouldn't.

"Pick it up."

The voice came from above. Skye looked up to see Tasha's father grinning down at her as he began to descend the stairs.

"And welcome."

Skye smiled begrudgingly back at him as she shouldered her bag once more.

"Thanks."

The senior officer appeared to be in rather a hurry to get to the kitchen. Judging by the smells coming from the next room over, she found she couldn't blame him. For once, the pungent stench of the stagnant water and mud outside was being overpowered by a much nicer one - one that was beginning to make her stomach grumble. Guzman paused briefly under the right-side arch.

"You're just in time for breakfast. Throw your stuff upstairs and come down to the table."

"Yes, sir."

He waited no longer than was absolutely necessary before vanishing into the kitchen.

* * *

Lucas threw his crumpled blanket off and stretched out his stiff muscles. Sleeping on the floor of the Lab wasn't the most comfortable experience, but then, the Lab wasn't really set up for sleepovers. He looked around the room and eventually located Maddy slumped over her desk with her arms around a plant. Several other Lab techs were strewn around the room in various stages of consciousness. It had been a rough night. Barely ten minutes had gone by where someone hadn't gotten up to anxiously check the level of the water outside. This, in combination with the assorted groans and snores and hard Lab floors had not created a recipe for pleasant slumber.

A cry of alarm came suddenly from one of the more alive members in the room, piercing through the hammering of rain on the roof and causing a few others to open their eyes sleepily. The woman that had broken the silence stood, her forgotten blanket falling to the floor at her feet, her wide eyes on the device in her hand.

"What?" Lucas frowned across the room at her. "What is it?"

She stared up at him in alarm.

"Snakehead's broken its banks."

A few beats passed as the entire room watched her in confusion. Finally, some kind soul spoke up gently.

"Snakehead broke its banks weeks ago .."

"No, I mean it's REALLY broken its banks!" The female researcher turned on the well-meaning assistant passionately. "The readings show that the low-lying recesses surrounding the river can no longer hold any water. There's nowhere for it to go."

Maddy's sleepy voice came from her desk.

".. and?"

The woman clutched her device until her knuckles went white, willing herself not to panic.

"Up until now, it was filling up the cavern systems and empty riverbeds around it. Now they're all filled up." She stared around the room in fear. "Don't you understand?! The river's going to pour itself right into the colony."

* * *

Skye hovered awkwardly in the doorway of the kitchen and searched for an empty seat. Everyone seemed to be chattering too excitedly to notice. She took a few steps into the room and was relieved when Mark caught sight of her and beckoned her over. She dropped into the seat beside him thankfully.

"Hi."

"Hey, Skye." Reynolds threw half a spoonful of mixed jam on his bread and proceeded to eat it without bothering to spread it out. "Glad to be out of the Infirmary?"

Skye raised an eyebrow at his breakfasting methods, but answered the question with a laugh.

"Ah .. yes. I never want to have another deep and meaningful conversation in my life."

Guzman smiled from the head of the table, but said nothing. Dunham and Curran grinned across from her, finally realising there was a new person at the table.

"So you're saying it was good for you then?"

"I mean, you practically have to glue her down in order to have a personal conversation anyway."

Silas Irving, another junior member of the security team, swallowed a bite of his immaculately-buttered toast.

"Hey, take it easy on her. It's not every day a girl tries to drown herself."

Mark paused mid-bite to stare at him. Guzman made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat. Irving picked up his cup of juice and took a careful sip.

".. that didn't come out right."

"I should think not."

Guzman threw down the rest of his berries and stood as Reilly entered the room.

"Everybody almost ready? Good. Forget assignments for now, I'll hand them out later. For now, I want everyone working to barricade the entire bottom floor of the building as well as you can. I've been informed that all unnecessary flood defences are going to be turned off in one hour."

There was quiet for a few seconds. Mark raised an eyebrow at Skye. Irving frowned.

"At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what does that mean? What happens after that?"

Several people nodded, Reilly included.

"It's a good question. The answer is .. no one knows for sure. If the houses are stronger than expected, maybe nothing will happen. If they're weaker, we might get a bit wet."

Irving's frown deepened.

"How wet?"

Reilly shrugged again.

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Come on, Reills. They must've given you some indication." Reilly shot a withering look at him, but he took her silence as an opportunity to continue. "Or is there something you're not _telling us_ .."

"Irving!" Reilly took a controlled breath. "One more word out of you and I'll let you do the barricading all by yourself."

"Well, what do you expect from him, really?" Curran muttered. "There's a reason they don't call him 'Silence'."

Reilly's mouth twitched as a few chuckles went around the tense room. Silas grinned and shrugged, accepting the jab cheerfully. Reilly met Guzman's gaze and shook her head at the babies she had to take care of.

"_Anyway_ .. you have five minutes to finish up what you're doing and get to work. I want you all back here in 45 minutes to take shelter. When the shields have been dropped and we know it's safe, I'll hand out your other assignments. There are boats waiting to take you where you need to go." She paused. "Questions?"

"Just one, Sergeant."

Reilly looked down suspiciously to where Dunham was seated and raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead."

Dunham stared back at her seriously, a faint hint of worry creasing his forehead.

"Are there any spare doors we can use if we run out of boats?"

Reilly narrowed her eyes and stared around at the other soldiers. Not one of them showed even the faintest trace of a smile. She turned back to Dunham, who was still watching her solemnly, though his eyes were beginning to show signs of weakness. She folded her arms.

"You alright, Corporal? You look like you might be about to cry."

Dunham shook his head sagely.

"No, Ma'am. It's dust."

"I see." Reilly looked around one more time. "In that case, you may continue with your activities."

Dunham nodded like a wise old owl.

"Thank you, Sergeant."

After exchanging another look with Guzman, Reilly turned and exited. The second she left the room, it erupted into hysterical chaos. Outside, the young mother of the army suppressed a grin and went about her work, shaking her head affectionately.

* * *

"This is your Commander speaking. In one minute, we will disengage all non-essential flood shields. You may experience a few minutes of increased volume, gentle tremors, or temporary rattling of windowpanes. These events are all predicted and have been taken into account. Please remain calm and be patient. You are all safe provided you remain indoors. Countdown is at thirty-five seconds. I'll see you all on the other side."

Jim flicked a button on his comms unit and dropped it into his pocket.

"How was that?"

"Bit morbid, but you got your point across."

Jim shook his head and glanced at the thick tablet his companion was currently resting on the Command Centre railing.

"There's no going back after this, Malcolm."

The head researcher shrugged matter-of-factly.

"It's time. You have to make the best decision you can with the facts available to you right now. This is it." Malcolm surveyed the peaceful lagoon surrounding them. "If it helps, I'll stand by you no matter what the consequences are."

Jim nodded slowly.

"Is that just because this is your idea?"

".. well, when you put it like that!"

The commander grinned briefly and glanced down at his comms unit.

"5 .. 4 .. Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Malcolm responded grimly.

Jim took one last look around and nodded.

"Do it."

In the space of 8 taps, which Malcolm accomplished rather rapidly, almost a third of the flood shields went down. The two at the railing looked on in silence as the floodwaters quickly ate up the offered space. Cracks appeared in several windows as a result of the sudden pressure, but shortly afterwards, the leaping water calmed and became still. The world fell silent. Then, one after another, the cracks began to slowly stretch their long fingers out. It was only a matter of time before the plexiglass caved in. There was a loud whoosh as first one window gave way, then the next. Each crash seemed to add to the water's growing momentum. Every one seemed to come more closely after the other as the floodwaters rushed into houses around the colony. Defenceless living rooms were saturated in an instant. Abandoned possessions were destroyed as the greyish-brown water took up residence inside. But in the end, when the water finally settled, the light from the remaining shields had grown noticeably stronger. The two at the railing stared out in miserable silence.

"This is it, Malcolm. This is our last stand."

The head researcher glanced at the solemn face of his friend and then back out at the gloomy scene as the rain started up again with a sudden roar.

"God help us all."

* * *

The sealed-in residents of the colony watched anxiously throughout the morning as the water continued to creep heavenward. The torrential rain had refused to let up, morphing instead into a loud storm. The scattered booms of thunder which resulted did little to calm the nerves of the terrified colonists. Every now and then, a flash of lightning could be seen from outside, though it was an odd and distorted sight, becoming increasingly more blurred as the water quickly swallowed up the windows. The excess rivers now being poured in from all the way up the mountain were merciless. Tiny waterfalls were everywhere, littered throughout the colony wherever there was an appropriate ledge to cascade over. By midday, the view from the windows had become nothing but a series of brown and black shadows. The houses creaked and shuddered under the weight, but stood faithfully as predicted, though the gap between the water and the roofs grew alarmingly smaller as the buildings themselves appeared to shrink.

Imprisoned inside the Shannon house, Deborah did her best to distract the children in her charge from the anxious reality. The windows had been blocked out for hours. The power-conserving setting of the lights added an eerie dull yellowish tint to the room. If the rain didn't let up soon, everyone's worst nightmare would come to fruition and the water would overwhelm the building. Still, with nothing to do but wait, the need to keep the children's spirits up became the top priority (though Deborah honestly didn't know who was helping who the most). Zoe, Leah, and Sam had gotten over their initial despondency after a while and, accepting their collective fate pragmatically, now seemed to be full of ideas for potential games.

Josh had been thrilled to discover that after his little adventure with Leah the day before, she was coming home with him after all. He had met the children's guardian at the Infirmary - a lovely little lady who had thanked him profusely for his mother's kind offer to look after the young ones through the crisis as her services were needed elsewhere. Turned out Leah's little brother had already been dropped off at the Shannons house and was waiting there for further instruction. The fact that Elisabeth had made such an offer in the first place would later turn out to be a piece of rather interesting news to the woman herself, but regardless, here Leah and Sam had remained. All's well that ends well.

Of course, Josh, as fate would have it, never actually managed to make it home before being called all the way back to the Infirmary again. Here he had stayed, soaked and miserable, watching in silence with the rest of the medical staff as the shield outside flickered brightly and shot up the outside of the walls when the lockdown had come into effect minutes later. Elisabeth was currently keeping him busy taking stock of the storeroom - they had been able to manufacture many medicines themselves, but certain ingredients were in short supply, and she feared in time, if they couldn't find substitutes, more people would be lost through lack of medical supplies than anything else. The thought made Deborah's stomach hurt.

A sudden long, low creak caused the four prisoners to forget their game and stare around apprehensively. After a few seconds of heart-stopping silence, Deborah smiled, forcing a cheerful note into her voice.

"Is anyone else starving?"

Sam nodded enthusiastically, leaving the comfort of Deborah's arm where he had been residing for the past half an hour and proceeding to skip around the room. Zoe and Leah, though attempting to put on a civilised manner and show Sam up as the baby, confessed that they were in fact hungry. Exactly three seconds later would see the little group racing toward the kitchen, Sam clutching frantically to his sister's neck and urging her on like he was about to win the Kentucky Derby. Deborah laughed and followed, but she had only taken a few steps when an odd feeling took hold of her and she paused, turning back slowly toward one of the living room windows. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she saw what she had sensed a moment earlier. A large dark shadow was passing nearby.

* * *

Reilly joined her two younger recruits at the Command Centre railing to watch the storm come in. The atmosphere was already flashing intermittently with lightning, as though a naughty child far above was flicking a giant light switch on and off. Curran and Skye, both drenched from head to toe, were surveying the mounting damage with an air of experienced resignation. Reilly followed their line of vision. The colony had degraded into a series of oddly-shaped islands, encircled by the ring of fence posts growing up out of the water. From the soggy market sails to the practical river running over the first half of the Command Centre steps, the sight was as surreal as it was impressive. Impressive, that is, if you managed to forget the extent of the damage and the long cleanup that would follow. The three turned as a frustrated voice rose up from inside the building.

"I mean, _look_ at this, Malcolm. It's a nightmare! Maybe Harlon was right. Maybe I should've evacuated the colony while we had the chance-"

"Stop it." Malcolm walked out the far door with Jim on his right. "You can't do anything about it by worrying now. Trust me. Trust the math."

Malcolm gripped his superior's shoulder firmly and shook him a little.

"And for goodness sake, calm down. You're scaring the children."

Skye and Curran grinned, and even Jim's worried frown seemed to relax a little. Malcolm, his job complete, began to chat about something completely inconsequential under the circumstances. He was three words through a humorous sentence about the size variation of primeval vegetables when a sharp voice suddenly cut across his own.

"Jim!"

Reilly frowned and turned to lecture Skye on respectful addresses, but paused when she saw the look on the girl's face. Skye was staring out into the water, the colour rapidly draining from her features. She murmured softly to herself, sounding almost confused.

"It's come here."

Reilly followed her gaze, her heartbeat quickening apprehensively. It took less than a second to identify the threat. A large dark shape was weaving its way directly towards the Command Centre just below the surface of the water, leaving two white foamy lines in its wake. Though the rain and the ripples distorted the image, it kept reappearing, each time a little bit clearer and a metre or two closer than it had been before.

By this stage, everyone's eyes were locked on the shadowy figure. They remained at the railing, frozen and instinctively silent, watching as the long creature neared. Every now and then, the lapping movement of the water revealed a greenish skin before the waves slid down upon it, once again transforming the shiny body into nothing more than a shadow. Just before reaching the front of the Command Centre, it made a sharp left turn and appeared to be setting off on a new path around the walls of the submerged brig. The small group followed as silently as they could, afraid of attracting the intruder's attention and giving their location away, but even more afraid of losing sight of the creature altogether. It continued its journey, seeming to slow as it came around. Every now and then they caught a glimpse of it through the gaps in the floorboard. It was massive. It had almost made a complete circle when they lost sight of it. After a few tense seconds of silence, they glanced around at each other .. and had to resist the urge to laugh. Here they were, a dripping wet group of paranoid detectives, creeping around the Command Centre like they were on some secret mission. The laughter died in their throats however, as the beast they had been following caught up with them. It exploded from the water in front of them like an angry geyser, showering the group at the railing in the process. Now that they finally had a clear view, the creature's colours stood out brightly against the dull water. The giant serpent appeared to be a glistening emerald green. It reared above them, quivering and seeming to study them as they stared back at it. Sparkling droplets dripped from its large head and ran down its glittering back. It opened its mouth and flicked its huge tongue at them as it arched and waved from side to side, piercing them with its sharp yellow eyes.

Malcolm gaped at it.

"Well, that's one thing I didn't factor in."

Reilly twisted the elbow of his damp sleeve and muttered back.

"Don't. Move."

Skye attempted to steady her breathing as the beast continued to stare, its curled neck moving easily as it was buffeted by the wind. There was a strange sort of beauty about it - sleek and graceful and brightly-coloured, accented by the scattered flashes and forks of lightning that intermittently illuminated the dark colony. The air of danger it possessed seemed to mount gradually the longer the two parties faced off against one another. Finally, the monster grew tired of the game and gathered itself with a shiver of anticipation. Reilly's hand slid slowly to her holster. Malcolm's eyes widened.

"Jim .."

"Wait .. get ready." Jim's words were hardly necessary. There wasn't a soul on that balcony whose muscles weren't coiled like a loaded spring. When the creature suddenly charged, they were ready for it.

The instant hail of sonic pulses raining down upon the giant snake displeased it immensely. It swung back and forth like a puppet on a rocking horse, but eventually the storm calmed and it was able to steady itself again.

The humans stared in horror as it gathered its large body for a second attempt. Jim yelled over at his companions, abandoning any attempt at subtlety.

"Sonics aren't working - _shoot the water!" _

THIS it didn't like. The water around the large neck glowed with streaks of blue fire as the liquid took hold of the electric charge. The snake ducked and thrashed, trying to escape the unpleasant sensation before locating a nearby tree and attempting to scale it to find relief from the burning. It was a decent enough plan. However, this particular tree didn't hold up its side of the execution. The group at the railing watched as a faint cracking sound came from beneath the surface of the water and the poor tree began to tilt dangerously toward them. The large reptile relinquished its grip at the last second and fell back into the water with a startling splash, throwing up a large wave which flew away from the Command Centre and surged over the nearby buildings - buildings which, up until that point, had been dark and quiet, apart from the constant movement of the water, and the continuous thud of rain - a noise none of the colonists could stand for some time. It would send a thrill of horror through their stomachs if it even began to spit. The dying tree gave a horrible groan and came crashing down on top of the Command Centre roof.

"Malcolm?! Malcolm?!"

Malcolm shoved a branch off himself and waved Reilly away.

"I'm fine. Just a bit grazed." He cast a glance down at his bleeding forearm and winced. Jim appeared a moment later and, without waiting for permission, pulled him up. They stared around at the catapulting water sloshing over the side of the railing. Malcolm rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

"Is it gone?" When no one replied, he took the answer to be a yes and eyed the damaged building dismally. The roof was now drooping sadly on one side where the tree lay cushioned on top of it and cracks were evident all over the place. Water aplenty was beginning to leak through - there was a growing puddle on Taylor's desk, which had miraculously survived the event. Malcolm groaned.

"Oh, what a mess."

Another loud splash suddenly burst from the water behind them, causing Curran and Skye to jump sharply. Malcolm simply stared past them, looking almost bored.

"Oh, it's back."

And it was definitely not happy.

The giant Titanoboa emerged from the water a few metres away, rising slowly upwards until it reached the peak of its height. Its golden eyes sparked menacingly as the dark pupil slits contracted. Skye felt Jim tense beside her, ready for the next round.

"It looks angry."

As if in confirmation of the statement, the snake darted back sharply, opening its mouth and flicking its forked tongue at them. The two dorsal fins on its back which had gone mostly unnoticed up until this point now stood up aggressively, the sails quivering in the wind as another flash of lightning lit up the sky. The sight was enough to make anyone freeze, terrified and awe-struck where they stood, but this particular production still had one last act to unleash. As the humans below raised their sonics defensively, the giant above them shivered a little. They heard it before they saw it - a faint crackling that seemed to be generated from the earth itself, growing increasingly louder and sharper with each passing second. As they watched, a strange blueish-white pattern began to climb up the creature's neck, as though the tangled roots of an otherworldly tree were taking hold of it. The monster in front of them waited as the electricity settled in over it, rippling and snapping against itself like a thousand strings of magnetic spidersweb. This process complete, the Titanoboa drew itself up to its full height once more, glowing brighter than the lightning that inhabited the dark clouds behind it. The falling raindrops sparked as they touched the shielded skin, while back down in the water, thready fingers of electricity stretched out from the luminous body, as though desperately trying to capture anything they touched. The beast waited and watched, looking approximately as confident as one would expect a giant electrified snake to look. Its eyes pinned them to the spot arrogantly. _Your move. _

Curran took an involuntary step back, his mouth unpleasantly dry despite the surrounding damp.

"What .. can they all do that?!"

No one, of course, had an answer for this, but as Jim watched it, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Malcolm, you need to go back and study the other one."

Malcolm choked incredulously.

"There's hardly any point! It's not going to be there!"

"Bigger problems right now!" Reilly hissed sharply, drawing the snake's attention momentarily to herself. She readied her sonic and stared back at it, but by this stage, it was more of a show than anything. She was right, they did have bigger problems. In fact, you might say they were finding themselves in a bit of a pickle. The sonics were growing dangerously low on charge, but not even they had managed to put it off for long. Goodness only knows what would deter it now. The snake stood and waited while they deliberated in hushed voices.

"Flamethrower."

"Where are we supposed to get a flamethrower, you idiot?!"

"It wouldn't work very well in the rain anyway." Reilly almost jumped out of her skin as a wet leaf landed on her neck. Malcolm knitted his eyebrows together, trying to draw his mind away from the throbbing in his elbow.

"Snakes hate ammonia. We could create a catapult and fire ammonia bombs at it."

"Oh great, we'll pour it some tea and have a nice chat while you make the catapult." Jim shot back. "I suppose giant snakes are kind and polite where you come from. Probably deliver your mail too."

Malcolm glared at him.

"It's England, not Mars! And have you got a better idea?"

"Not really."

The snake, as patient as it had been, was getting tired of waiting. It was creeping closer by tiny increments as they spoke.

"If only the sonic cannons could shoot _into_ the colony."

"What if they could?!" Reilly's eyes suddenly shone with excitement as the others turned slowly to face her. "Look, long story short, when the first troops arrived here, they didn't have sonics. They used what was known as an Electromagnetic Pulsar Machine Gun - kind of like a portable sonic cannon on steroids. They eventually replaced it with cannons because it's _really_ heavy and impractical and takes two people to operate it instead of one, but it still contained the rapid-fire mode that makes ours so effective. It might work!"

Jim cast a quick glance at the Titanoboa.

"Where is it?"

Reilly's face fell a little.

"The basement."

Every member of the little congregation looked down slowly at the floorboards, then back up at Reilly. Curran raised an eyebrow at his superior officer.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Right." Jim made up his mind in the space of a second. "Curran, Reilly and I will go down and get it. Malcolm, Skye .. try to keep our friend at bay."

Protestations fell on deaf ears as the participants realised they had little say in the matter. Malcolm and Skye were left with the sonics as the other three made their way downstairs. Thankfully, they could enter the brig from a hatch inside the Command Centre, thus saving themselves rather a thrilling swim, but they quickly discovered the trip was going to be an unpleasant one nonetheless. The brig was partially sealed, so as of yet, it wasn't completely drowned, but there was still water constantly drizzling in from several different entry points, and the lower the adventurers journeyed, the higher the water grew. They paused in the centre of the dark and mouldy main hallway.

"Where is this thing, Reilly?"

"Down there." She pointed to a nearby staircase that looked more like a water feature. Jim glanced at his companions wearily and then back to the next phase of the trip.

"Of course it is."

The staircase was extremely slippery, but they managed to reach the bottom in one piece. As they plunged into the pool at the foot of the stairs and paddled to the storage room door, the whole building suddenly shook violently. They paused in the rippling water and listened to the distant sounds of battle that could be heard from above. Malcolm and Skye were doing their best to keep the snake at bay, but it seemed as though it was finally done playing. Reilly pulled the tarp triumphantly off a large object in the corner, submerged in water almost to the top.

"Here!"

Jim's heart sank to the bottom of the lake he was standing in.

"Reilly, it's drenched."

"It's water-resistant. It had to be. It'll be fine." Against her better judgement, Reilly tried in vain to pull it across the room. "Come on, help me. Hurry!"

It was a very hazardous journey upstairs, especially for Curran, who seemed to have a talent for tripping over steps and almost ended up _underneath_ the gun on more than one occasion, but eventually they managed to drag themselves out into the open once more. They emerged to see Malcolm and Skye unleashing the last of the sonics into the nose of the snake. The roof had evidently taken another nasty beating, and the railing had been thrashed so badly that it was now almost beyond recognition and looked like some sort of modern art piece. As the snake retreated temporarily, Malcolm and Skye ran over to the others.

"Bout jolly time!" Malcolm watched as the EMPMG was turned on. "Why does it still have power anyway?"

Reilly pressed a few buttons, causing the buzzing sound from inside the ancient behemoth to grow louder.

"We keep it operational just in case."

Malcolm glanced at Jim incredulously.

"Just in case of WHAT?!"

"Nevermind! Help me!"

_"Malcolm, duck!"_

For once in his life, Malcolm did as he was told without asking questions. Jim and Reilly leaped back and Curran pulled Skye out of the way roughly as the snake's head charged right through the middle of the building. Jim nodded to Reilly as Malcolm got shakily to his feet once again.

"I'd say now's as good a time as any."

In the brief reprieve from the onslaught, the machine gun was dragged, pushed, and carried outside. Jim remained on one side and Reilly on the other with the rest of the group behind them as they waited tensely for the creature to show itself again. For a few minutes, it seemed as though it had given up, and despite themselves, the wielders of the weapon began to feel slightly deflated, but the serpent wasn't one to surrender easily. A faint ripple below alerted them to its presence once more. When it charged out of the water this time, they were ready. With an odd sort of impromptu battle cry, the heavy handles were pulled back and a spray of blue energy broke free. The glowing rings hit home hard against the monster's head. He twisted and writhed and tried to charge angrily, but was constantly buffeted by the enraging impact of this new weapon. The angrier he grew, the brighter he glowed. When the humans eased off the weapons, he gathered himself and began to charge again. Once again, of course, he was met with the same powerful opposition. He shook his head slowly to clear it. No fight was worth this.

The small group of humans on the battered balcony watched silently as the electric glow of their enemy faded. They waited, tense and ready for another assault, but somehow they knew instinctively that this was it. He was done.

The snake sank down slowly into the water, eyed them for a moment, and disappeared under the waves. After waiting hesitantly for a minute or two, the group began to make their way to the broken railing. At first, they could see nothing, and the horrid thought rose within them that he might have been playing with them after all. What if the giant creature was still hiding in the shadows underneath them?! .. but thankfully, he wasn't. They caught a glimpse of his finned back a few seconds later, rippling gracefully out through the front gate as though he really had just come for a pleasant visit.

Skye and Malcolm sank down to sit on the floorboards almost simultaneously. Shortly thereafter, the others followed suit, staring around at the splintered bamboo in exhaustion. Curran flopped backwards and lay there with his legs hanging off the edge, squinting against the rain that insisted on trying to fall into his eyes.

"We've defeated the final boss, right? Does that mean this nightmare can finally be over?"

He received a few snorts in return. Malcolm groaned and rubbed his own eyes.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

A few seconds later, a surprised grunt came from Jim as he peered into the distance.

"Is that .."

".. sky!" Reilly finished. She nodded toward the horizon as Skye glanced quickly at her. "Blue sky."

"No way." Curran groaned, not even bothering to look. When the rain stopped attacking his eyes a moment later, however, he was forced to sit up and confront the truth. The sun was coming out.

"I don't believe it." Malcolm muttered, watching in astonishment as the blue patch continued to stretch across, pushing the dark clouds aside as it grew. He didn't notice the mix of amused and irritated looks his comrades were throwing at him. Eventually though, they got tired of waiting for him to notice and turned their attention back to the horizon. The sun was beginning to spear through the somber afternoon, projecting golden light over the colony and pulling it out of its recent extended darkness.

It was perhaps too much to hope for at the time, but this would indeed signal the end of the floods. Night would arrive and depart with only smatterings of rain. Dawn would break properly the next day, the sun would return, and the water would begin to drop, slowly but surely, leaving a massive clean-up in its wake.

For now, however, the drenched little group of soldiers at the railing continued to dangle their legs and enjoy the view, improved upon shortly thereafter by the appearance of a colourful rainbow in the bright new sky above them.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Josh ran frantically through the damp streets, slippering and sliding in the mud. It had been just over a week since the rain had stopped, and the clean-up was just about in full swing. Most of the water was gone, save the lower areas such as the Bar and the Brig, which were taking a little longer to lose their swimming pool status. Josh flew past the market stalls, receiving some strange looks in the process. The colony had been dark power-wise since the water receded. They had miraculously had just enough reserve power to keep the shields up until the houses were out of danger. A few particularly low-lying buildings had got a bit wet on the inside, but nothing too dramatic had resulted. For the most part, the colony had been spared.

The young doctor leaped over a small pool on the side of the street. The plan was to turn the power back on in sections over the next week, as soon as the reserves had built up sufficiently once more. This meant the security systems and cannons were still down, but the council was hopeful the fence would be enough to deter interested creatures for a little while longer. The watery sunlight of late and the small bits of ore a few brave souls had managed to retrieve from the quarry had provided enough electricity to get the essential buildings up and running again - dimly-lit and with no air filtering in order to conserve power, but running nonetheless .. just like Josh at this particular moment. He passed a middle-aged woman with a small child and finally burst into the Infirmary, muddy feet and all. His mother looked up quickly as the commotion reached her ears, only to frown at the absolute mess he was once again making of the floor.

"Josh!"

"Mom!" Elisabeth's oldest son panted, looking a little shaken after the exertion of his trip. "Some of the Sixers are back. With Boylan. They don't look so good, you better come quick."

Elisabeth nodded and swung into action immediately, pausing half a second later to glance back up at him, a sinking feeling taking hold of her as she processed his last words.

".. 'some'?"

* * *

The battered group of travellers dragged themselves wearily through the front gate. Some were barely managing to stay upright, some were assisting friends and former enemies to make it the last few steps to their destination. Some had lost their strength long ago and were now being carried. All looked as though they'd barely slept in months. Boylan was bringing up the tail, carrying a small child that had a nasty gash on its upper arm. It clung to him like a tiny monkey, gripping the back of his torn shirt as though its life depended on it. In all probability, it had.

Boylan himself was splattered with dried blood, though it was unclear at this stage whether it was his own or the child's. He reached the edge of the centre platform and simply stood and waited, looking a little dazed to be finally back to safety once more. Elisabeth approached him as the rest of her medical team fanned out and began to assess the damage.

"Boylan?"

He acted as though he hadn't even heard her. She touched his arm lightly, causing him to jump a little.

"Tom?"

"Hm?" This time he turned to look at her, and Elisabeth felt something inside of herself shrink back. As battered as he appeared to be outwardly, the real extent of the damage was here, hidden behind his eyes. Heaven only knew what nightmares the past few days had brought with them. She gestured to the step on the edge of the platform.

"Sit down. Let me see what you've done to yourself."

Boylan shook his head and stared around at the various emergency shadecloths which were being erected above the town centre as they spoke.

"Thanks but no thanks, Doc."

"It's not a request." Elisabeth smiled kindly as he turned back to her. "You need medical attention. So does he."

As she nodded to the child, Boylan relented and sat down heavily on the step. Elisabeth kneeled next to him and opened her medical bag. It was understood by some unspoken rule that the child should be treated first, but all attempts to draw him out proved unsuccessful. The boy refused to move or even to look at her. He simply buried his head deeper into Boylan's shoulder and grew still again. Elisabeth moved to brush a section of dark hair away from the child's forehead and then glanced up at Boylan in surprise.

"This is Vaughn Declan." A shadow of understanding crossed her face. "Then .. Aaron and Maureen .."

"Dead." Boylan muttered, his red-rimmed eyes staring around hopelessly at the gathered crowd. Elisabeth noticed his grip on the child tighten slightly and wondered vaguely if he realised he'd done so. The thought flew out of her head a second later as she heard her husband's grim voice beside her. How long had he been standing there? Boylan definitely hadn't noticed his presence yet .. or maybe he was only pretending he didn't. Jim was watching the little trio with an unreadable expression.

"Where are Mira and the others?" He attempted to keep the tremble of fear out of his voice, but Elisabeth heard it and took note. Boylan shook his head and drew in a ragged breath.

"I don't know, we got separated."

The barkeeper looked tortured. Jim's eyes slid shut as Boylan rested his head on the child's shoulder for a minute.

"How many, Boylan?" The question came out sharper than he had intended. Still, he surmised, the man in front of him was responsible for this. He had led every member of his little rebellion into danger. He'd be lucky to get off with a minor tongue lashing.

"How many were killed because of this unnecessary expedition? How many will never come home all because _you wanted to make a point?"_

Boylan bit his lip and shook his head hollowly as Elisabeth shot her husband a warning look. Jim ignored her and drew closer, receiving a few curious stares from the nearby stations as he did so.

_"__How many, Boylan?!"_

"I don't know!" The barkeeper burst out, causing the child in his arms to start crying softly. Boylan looked as though he was about to join him. "It was dark. They kept coming from nowhere .. Aaron, Maureen, Paul, Edna .. Watkins, Hodge, Seth .. they just kept coming .. they were everywhere .. nothing we could do .."

When Boylan's haunted voice faded, Jim shook his head and walked away a few steps, his hand over his mouth as though he was afraid of what might be about to come out of it if he stayed. Elisabeth, deciding it was high time this interrogation was postponed in favour of an approach which would have far less detrimental effects on the health of her patients, turned back to Boylan sympathetically.

"Were _you_ hurt anyw-"

_"__AHHHHH!"_ An agonising scream was unleashed a few metres away. Elisabeth and Boylan looked over to see a nurse gingerly removing a filthy dried bandage from the jagged leg stump of a man nearby. Vaughn finally lifted his head and tried to see what was going on, but Boylan raised a hand to shield his view. The toddler gave up almost instantly and dropped his curly head down onto the barkeeper's shoulder once more, falling to studying Elisabeth with dark eyes. She smiled encouragingly.

"Hi, Vaughn. I'm Doctor Shannon. Do you remember me?"

No response whatsoever. The child continued to stare. Elisabeth persisted.

"That looks like a nasty bump on your arm. How about we see if we can make it better?"

Still no response. Elisabeth raised her eyebrows at Boylan, who shrugged a little. Taking a small bottle from her bag, Elisabeth held it up to the boy.

"This is antiseptic. It's like water that cleans your skin. See?"

She sprayed it onto her own arm to demonstrate.

"Now, it might hurt a little. Can you be brave?"

The child met her eyes silently. It was impossible to tell whether he understood what she meant or not. Boylan nodded to her.

"Go ahead, Doc. Do what you need to do."

Elisabeth reached out and took the little arm gently, spraying lightly at first. Vaughn's eyes had left her face in order to watch her tend to his arm, but apart from this movement, he didn't appear to have any reaction at all. She pulled back and watched the spray as it bubbled up and rolled down his arm before meeting Boylan's eyes a little sadly.

"He's still in shock, I think, poor little thing. I'll finish here quickly and then we'll have a look at you."

"I'm fine, Doc." Boylan protested as she pulled out another little glass bottle from her bag. "Just look after him."

Elisabeth looked up at Boylan with a smile as she sprayed the second round of treatment on.

"You look like you've been doing a pretty good job of that yourself."

Vaughn seemed to be satisfied that Elisabeth knew what she was doing and turned to study his protector's face. Boylan smiled briefly back at him.

"Found him crying in the mud after one of our midnight terror attacks. His folks were nearby .. for the most part."

Elisabeth grimaced before suddenly finding Jim close by again, staring down at the group with folded arms.

"And naturally, you decided to come to the rescue."

Boylan glared up at him as the child fingered a tear in his shirt.

"Contrary to popular opinion, Commander, I'm not completely heartless."

"Could've fooled me."

As if on cue, another wretched scream came from the other side of the temporary war hospital set up in the town square. Elisabeth sat back on her heels and rubbed the boy's mud-stained leg gently as she put her supplies away.

"There. He'll need a few more sessions over the next few days, but the healing process has begun well. You're a brave little one, aren't you?" She met Boylan's gaze firmly. "Right, your turn."

The prospective patient began to shake his head, but Elisabeth wasn't about to take no for an answer.

"I'm afraid this is a non-negotiable, Tom. We'll find someone to hold him for a few minutes." She glanced up hopefully in her husband's direction. "Jim .. ?"

Jim's expression was still hard and set as he stared around at the wounded folk, both old and young, scattered about him, but Elisabeth's pleading expression was fairly convincing. He sighed and relented.

"Alright, alright."

Elisabeth smiled warmly.

"Thank you-"

"Reynolds!" Jim hollered across the platform. "Come here for a minute!"

Elisabeth's smile twisted dryly and she shook her head as Mark came jogging up.

"Yes, sir?"

"Hold the baby." Jim commanded immediately, leaving no room for negotiation. Mark turned uncertainly toward Boylan, who was currently trying to extract himself from the stubborn child's grip. After a questioning glance at Elisabeth, who returned a sympathetic one of her own, the young soldier stepped forward and lifted the squirming boy, holding him awkwardly as Boylan retrieved the remaining parts of his person from the child's fingers. Vaughn was beginning to cry in earnest now. Mark, who had never held a baby in his life and was thoroughly out of his depth, attempted to calm him by holding him out and bouncing him up and down gently.

"Come on, don't cry .. easy .." This didn't help. The toddler continued to cry, his voice rising in pitch and volume with every passing second. Interestingly enough, Mark's stress levels were rising at about the same rate. He attempted to juggle the struggling boy clumsily, a note of desperation entering his voice.

"Jim, I don't .."

"Reynolds, he's not a milkshake." Jim protested, suddenly growing tired of the situation and the noise and wishing he were back in his office. "Here."

The commander stepped forward and took the distraught child, turning him around and placing him securely back in Mark's arm.

"Now support him. Not too tight."

Elisabeth glanced up at them and met Boylan's eyes with a smile, but said nothing. Jim stood back and observed.

"Easy does it. Rub his back. Not too hard."

Mark reluctantly obeyed. The child dropped his head down against this new shoulder and cried quietly, clinging to a fistful of the olive green shirt. Mark continued to rock the boy gently up and down as Jim abandoned him to wander off through the ranks of makeshift beds.

A few minutes later, Elisabeth stood up.

"Minor cuts and abrasions. Your blood pressure is high, but other than that, you've managed surprisingly well. A good wash might be in order though."

The patient accepted this in good humour and glanced up at Vaughn and Mark. Reynolds grinned back. The boy was sleeping peacefully, still clutching his handful of fabric as the tears from a few minutes earlier continued to dry on his cheeks. Boylan looked over at Jim, who had returned somewhat and was watching from a few metres away.

"His Dad was in security."

Jim nodded silently and turned his attention back to Reynolds with a faint look of approval. Fortunately for him, Mark was too busy shushing a random passer-by to notice the momentary lapse in judgement. Boylan got wearily to his feet and dusted himself off. It was a pointless exercise, given the extent of the grime caked to his clothes. They were beyond saving, he realised with a sigh. They would have to be thrown away. Great.

Mark looked up to see the older man watching him silently and made to pass the limp child over, but was halted by Boylan's raised hand.

"There's no hurry. I don't want to disturb him. First good sleep he's had in days."

After waiting for another couple of seconds, Boylan nodded resolutely.

"Right. If you'll excuse me, I'll be back for him in an hour .. or two. I'm in desperate need of a decent decontamination myself."

Mark began to protest, but Boylan would not be moved. He beamed around and patted Mark's arm.

"Good on ya, mate."

Mark tried to cling to the dying hope that the other man was joking, but he felt his heart sinking by the second.

"Wait, you can't just-"

"Don't stress, Corp, you'll be right."

"But-!"

Turning a deaf ear to the pleadings of the young soldier, Boylan set off across the square and soon disappeared. Mark then turned to Elisabeth with an entreating smile, but she didn't seem to be inclined to rescue him either. Instead, his future mother-in-law raised her eyebrows and smiled kindly.

"Good practice. You'll be fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have far too many other people needing my attention today .."

With a worried frown, Elisabeth deserted him as well, and Mark was left to wander amongst the scattered civilians, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake his sleeping bundle.

Jim had meandered away again, feeling at an uncomfortable loss as to what he was supposed to be doing. He felt he needed to stay here and maintain his presence in the wake of the suffering these people had recently been through - going back to his office would imply that he simply didn't care - but there really wasn't much for him to do. The medical staff were busy doing their jobs, no one wanted to talk to him, and even his own soldiers seemed to be wrapped up in their own tasks. Good for them. Jim had to content himself with wandering around in aimless circles and try to appear as though he knew what he was doing and wasn't simply just an unnecessary fixture of the event, which was, in fact, exactly what he knew himself to be at this particular point in time. He was relieved to hear his wife's gentle laugh behind him.

"Knows how to wriggle out of uncomfortable situations with the best of them."

He turned to her as she paused next to him, evidently on her way to attend to some other poor soul.

"Who, Boylan?" A begrudging smile slipped through despite himself. "Yes, he does."

He watched as Elisabeth's face took on a strangely affectionate expression and followed her gaze to where Mark was pacing slowly. He appeared to be muttering something to the baby on his shoulder .. or perhaps he was singing. It was hard to hear anything from this far away. Regardless, Elisabeth rested her head on her husband's shoulder for a moment.

"You know, our daughter could do a lot worse."

Jim looked sideways at her and then turned back to Mark, shaking his head a little in defeat.

"I know, I know."

* * *

Reynolds, as it turns out, was indeed singing disjointed pieces of some half-forgotten lullaby to the boy as he formulated his master plan, continuing to watch his commanding officer out of the corner of his eye. After what seemed like an eternity, Reilly finished taking down an injured man's version of current events and crossed the plaza near to where he was standing. Mark caught her up easily, assisted by the fact that when she realised what he was carrying, she stopped altogether, a grin finding its way onto her face.

"Well, it is nice to see someone else honing their motherly instincts for a change, Corporal."

Mark's forehead creased as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I'm happy to do it, Sergeant. But .. I feel my services are better utilised in .. other .. areas." He turned a little so Reilly could have the full effect of Vaughn's angelic face as he slept. "Would you .. ?"

Reilly chuckled unsympathetically.

"As much as I would love to help you, Reynolds, I wouldn't dream of depriving you of the opportunity." She patted him on the shoulder dismissively and turned to walk away. "Good luck."

"But he's an orphan!" Mark blurted out despairingly.

Reilly looked over her shoulder at him, the smile having vanished from her features.

"I am sorry to hear that. But it does make me twice as glad he has you. Keep up the good work, soldier."

As she turned away seriously, Mark threw his head back in misery, but the intended trajectory was halted by a choke of laughter behind him.

"I thought a good soldier was supposed to maintain his composure at all times."

As he turned to face his future wife, Maddy's face transformed into a satisfying expression of surprise.

"What-who's this?"

Here was his chance. Despite the assumptions often made about the independent thought of the army members, Mark was quick on his feet. And he knew his future wife very well. She could never resist a lost or abandoned creature. For that matter, none of the Shannons could .. except maybe Jim. Reynolds gazed mournfully at the child in his arms and sighed.

"He's an orphan, Maddy. His parents were lost out there. He's all alone in the world."

Maddy's eyes widened in distress.

"What's his name?"

"Vaughn." Mark replied, rocking the boy gently. "Listen, Maddy, I don't really want to keep exposing him to all this. It's not good for him. He's been through enough, don't you think?"

Maddy nodded and reached out a hand to rub the child's back softly.

"Poor little thing."

"Could you take him to the Infirmary? I know he'll be safe with you and he needs to get cleaned up anyway."

Maddy narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head a little.

"Don't think you're getting away with this. I know what you're up to." She reached out for the boy anyway as a guilty grin spread across her future husband's face. "But luckily for you, I do agree with the sentiment. Come here, little guy."

Vaughn stirred a little as Mark handed him over, but Maddy had a reassuring grip and he quickly snuggled back down against her. She cast a heartfelt look at Mark as the curly head tucked itself into her neck, then proceeded to rest her own head against it and rock back and forth slightly. Mark was a little in awe of how naturally the process seemed to come to her. After a minute or two, she was reassured that he was settled enough to begin the very short journey over to the Infirmary. After exchanging a farewell wave with Mark, she set off, but only got two steps before turning back slowly, a sudden thought gnawing at her.

"You said he was an orphan? He really has nowhere else to go?"

".. that's right .." Mark suddenly had a sinking feeling that he'd played his part a little too well. Maddy took a step toward him and smiled entreatingly.

"Mark, you said it yourself he has no one now. You don't suppose we could-"

"No." Mark was rescued unexpectedly from his self-made dilemma by the firm voice of his future father-in-law. Jim, who had finally tired of wandering about aimlessly and was now heading back to his office, had chanced to pass at that exact moment and had overheard the fear-inspiring suggestion. His voice now left no room for further discussion on the subject. "Absolutely not, Maddy."

"But Dad-"

"Not gonna happen." Jim raised a warning eyebrow at each of them in turn as he continued his beeline for the rotting Command Centre steps. "Don't even think about it."

Maddy sighed and shrugged a little at Mark, running a hand over the boy's dark hair wistfully.

"Better get him to the Infirmary."

Mark smiled sympathetically and nodded his agreement, his calm exterior belying the fact that his heart rate was only just beginning to return to normal.

"Alright. Thanks, Maddy."

He watched her walk away as fresh beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He swiped them away with relief. For once, he was glad of Jim's reproving tongue. He glanced around him at the thinning crowds. Most victims had been seen to by now, but there were still a few scattered medical professionals around the place. With the extent of some of the injuries he'd witnessed in passing, he suspected there was a high likelihood that some patients wouldn't make it through the night. The Infirmary was sure to be overcrowded. He pictured his future wife getting bumped and jostled in an attempt to find someone to hand Vaughn over to, the latter of whom had probably woken up with the activity and begun to cry loudly as a result. Mark felt a spark of guilt for sending them over there, but, he reasoned with himself, it was after all the most logical place to send a two-year-old who had been exposed to the elements.

Despite his own best efforts, he had almost convinced himself to go after them when he heard his name called from another direction. Relieved to have something to take his mind off his internal domestic crisis, Mark went to rescue a nearby nurse who had somehow gotten himself tangled up while trying to dismantle the temporary shade cloth. A soldier's work was never done .. and sometimes that was a good thing.

* * *

"Hey!"

Malcolm slammed his hands down on Jim's desk. There was really no reason to do it, barring the fact that it had a tendency to startle the other man half out of his wits. But that was usually reason enough.

"Malcolm!" Jim looked up at him in irritation. "Where have you been?"

His colleague gave him a strange look as he straightened up again.

"You .. sent me out, remember?" He frowned. "Are you okay?"

Jim leaned back and nodded, managing to erase most of the confusion from his face.

"Yeah. Sure. I'll tell you about it later. What was the verdict?"

Malcolm paused to swipe a clingy bug off his sleeve and then folded his arms.

"Well, the river is approaching normal levels again."

"Good." It was good, but in this moment, Jim felt anything but happy. "And the snake?"

"Oh, ripped to pieces." Malcolm informed him cheerfully. "Utterly demolished. There's barely anything left. The natives must've thought it was Christmas."

"Charming." Jim squinted at the researcher. "Why are you so happy about it then? I would've thought you'd be crushed you didn't get a chance to study it."

"Oh, I'm absolutely distraught." Malcolm replied, still sounding as cheerful as ever. "But .."

He crept closer and leaned on the desk again as though he was about to divulge a dark secret.

".. I think I may have just solved our energy problem."

Jim pulled out his Plex and began swiping through a series of reports distractedly.

"What energy problem?"

Malcolm's eyebrows lowered further.

"Are you sure you're-"

Jim laid his tablet flat on the desk with a thump.

"Right, right, which part of it?"

Malcolm nodded and began enthusiastically.

"We have an energy problem-"

Jim stared up in annoyance.

"That much I am aware of."

Malcolm continued patiently.

"No, you don't understand the half of it."

Jim leaned forward again and clasped his hands together on his desk.

"I'm sure you're about to enlighten me, Malcolm."

"You don't have to be like that." The head researcher eyed him severely. "I have an idea on how to fix it."

"I though the plan was already to fix it by adding more turbines?"

"It was, but it was done up without my approval by people who didn't know what they were doing." He ignored the Commander's snort and continued. "The turbines only just produce enough energy to run the agricultural department, and that's only because the irrigation system doesn't require much electricity to run."

Jim shook his head. Malcolm had always had a habit of making things more difficult than they needed to be.

"So we expand it! Right? Build a bigger wind farm outside the colony."

"No, Jim. Listen." Malcolm assumed the superior tone that Jim hated with a vengeance. "Wind is unpredictable from day to day, and the turbines have already failed to supply power several times as it is."

Jim frowned.

"Surely the houses can continue to run on solar, though, right? We wouldn't need THAT much extra power."

Malcolm subsided for a moment and watched him.

"You have no idea how this works, do you?"

Jim scowled.

"I know enough. The roofs have solar sheets that supply power to the houses when it's sunny."

Malcolm held up a finger.

".. no."

Jim leaned back in his chair in annoyance and folded his arms.

"Then please, enlighten me!"

"Alright." Malcolm immediately jumped into the explanation he'd been dying to give from the moment he walked into the room. "The houses have solar sheets on the roofs that collect the energy from the sun's rays-"

"That's _exactly_ what I just said."

"Shh. The collected energy, however, doesn't go directly back into the individual houses. We made the decision several years ago to collect the solar power and then divide it, because certain houses were converting more than they needed, and the public buildings needed more to run the equipment. All the gathered energy from the solar screens is sent and collected in the power station."

Jim blinked at him.

"We have a power station?"

"Yes." Malcolm explained patiently. "But it looks just like any other house, so you - being you - wouldn't have even questioned it."

Jim glared at him again, but Malcolm continued.

"It runs the colony quite well, it divides the energy efficiently. It also leaves us more vulnerable in a way. Do you remember the power going off last year? The night the Sixers attacked? How did you think the power for the entire colony went off if each house contained its own power supply?"

Jim shrugged.

"You never thought about it." Malcolm declared. "You just dealt with the problem. That's why you're not a scientist. But the point is, if the power station is sabotaged or breaks down, it affects the entire colony. And if we have extended periods of rain or snow or cloudy days, the solar store is depleted and we switch to our reserve power supply, which is .."

He waited for Jim to finish his sentence in the manner of a professor giving a lecture. When the silence became awkward, Jim finally obliged him with a smile.

".. ore."

"Right. Ore." Malcolm continued in relief. "The generators also run off ore, we use ore to make replacement chips, meteoric ore is even crushed and used as the main ingredient in the cure for syncillic fever, as we now know. Hence why they want it so badly back home - in the future."

He hurriedly corrected himself as Jim gave him an odd look.

"But you see the problem now, don't you?"

Jim nodded slowly.

"The ore supply is limited."

"Right!" Malcolm beamed, looking happier than he should about the situation. "There's a lot of ore in these hills, but sooner or later, the supply _will_ run out, so we need to conserve it."

Jim rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So turbines and solar aren't reliable enough, ore needs to be kept for emergencies only. I assume you have another idea and you're not just being morbid for the sake of it."

"I do." Malcolm smiled confidently and spread a large sheet of paper over Jim's desk. He hadn't even noticed he'd been holding it. "I've taken the liberty of drawing up some plans."

Jim removed his buried Plex with a raised eyebrow.

"I can see that."

"We harness the river." Malcolm pointed eagerly to the first of his drawings. "Hydroelectric power. We suspend a series of poles across the river with staggered wheels on them. The wheels turn with the flow of the water, the electricity travels down the pipe and is sent underground through here .."

He ran a finger along one of his many lines and briskly tapped a small square at the end of it.

".. to the power station."

Jim nodded, somewhat impressed.

"And what if the river level drops?"

"Aha!" Malcolm pointed to another illustration. "We add sensors along the bar to detect the water level and divert some of the stored electricity to raise or lower the bar as need be. And THAT way, we can always keep an eye on the level of the river as well."

Jim examined the blueprint for a few seconds and then glanced up at the anxious researcher currently hovering above him.

"Malcolm .. you never cease to amaze me."

Malcolm bowed his head modestly.

"I do what I can."

"May I make one suggestion?"

Malcolm raised his eyebrows.

"Please!"

Jim traced a small circle onto the map with his finger.

"Build another communication station there beside the river. It's a long walk, and I don't want anyone to get stuck there after dark with no protection. You can turn it into a backup power storage facility as well, and put all of your monitoring equipment in there, along with the usual food and bed stations."

Malcolm nodded slowly, immediately seeing the sense in the plan, but not wishing to appear too eager to approve it. Jim may not have known a lot, but no one could deny he was a quick study.

"Good. Consider it done." The chief science officer made a note on his paper and rolled it up quickly. "Pleasure doing business with you, Commander."

Jim stood up and shook the offered hand gratefully.

"Pleasure's all mine, Doctor."

* * *

The door swung open sharply as Boylan charged into the crowded Infirmary. Once inside, however, he calmed himself and pushed his way through to the back, ignoring the protests of various nurses in the process.

"Doctor Shannon."

Elisabeth finished redressing her patient's wound and turned, frowning when she saw Boylan.

"What are you doing here? What is it?"

"Where's the kid?"

Elisabeth walked out into the hallway and led him to a small cubicle on the other side of the building. Pulling aside the curtain quietly, she entered, followed closely by Boylan. Inside the little curtained room was a small crib, connected to the same holographic network as the other beds judging by the coloured geometrics that began swirling in the air above it as Elisabeth approached. Boylan peered over the sides. Vaughn was sleeping peacefully tucked away inside, nestled deep under his blankets with the corner of one trapped in his mouth.

"He's very healthy considering what he's just been through, but I'd like to keep him under observation for a few days just to be on the safe side. Kids can turn for the worse quickly .. not that I think that's going to happen in this case." Elisabeth threw a smile at Boylan and continued in a quiet voice. "One of our nurses brought some clothes from home. Her boys are older now and don't need them. I'm not going to say he enjoyed his bath, but Maddy and Jess managed to complete the process fairly painlessly."

"I was going to take him back with me. I'm all he knows now, Doc."

"I'd advise against it .." Elisabeth said gently. "At least for the next few nights. Let him rest and readjust, then we can talk about where he's going to go."

"Oh, I have no fantasies about keeping him." Boylan looked down into the child's tiny bed. "I know he can do a lot better than me."

He reached out and touched the little hand as Vaughn slept, smiling briefly as the boy immediately clung to a finger. He was barely more than an infant, and still hadn't lost many of his baby tendencies. He needed so much more than an old barkeeper and a rough shack hewn into the dirt could give him. Boylan sniffed and slowly withdrew his hand. Children were never a part of the plan anyway.

Elisabeth put a hand on the barkeeper's arm.

"He'll be safe here, I promise. Ogawa will make sure someone stays near him, and you're only a few minutes away. Go home and get some rest. You look exhausted."

Boylan nodded.

"Just .. take care of him, Doc."

"We will. I promise. Come visit him tomorrow, okay?"

Boylan gave a noncommittal shrug and made his way back to the Bar. He paused miserably as he entered. The smell was nearly intolerable. The hardened dirt floor could barely been seen beneath the connected pools of muddy water that adorned it. Getting to his own bedroom was a challenge in itself, as the bottom stairs were still buried in liquid and the relentless mould made them slippery to boot. He somehow managed it though, and entered his bedroom behind the Bar with a weary sigh. It was home, and yet instead of feeling welcoming and comforting, it felt foreign and deserted, as if it too was still sad about being abandoned. Boylan shook his head. He was too tired for these melodramatic thoughts. He stripped the mouldy bedclothes off his mattress and collapsed upon it, not caring enough to even bother with replacing the sheet.

* * *

Halfway through the night, a cry brought Elisabeth to the little boy's bedside. She discovered Vaughn sitting up in his crib, clinging to an armful of blankets and whimpering softly.

"Hey there, look who's finally awake."

Vaughn looked up at her, his eyes filling with tears. Elisabeth untangled him from his blankets and picked him up, balancing him on her hip automatically. Her children were all too grown-up for the practice now, but some habits were never forgotten.

"I bet you're hungry again, aren't you? Of course you are." Elisabeth chuckled to herself, remembering Josh at Vaughn's age. Little boys were always hungry. She swiped at the crib's holographic chart. This captivated Vaughn's attention. The lights danced in his wide eyes as Elisabeth flicked rapidly through several different sets of information.

"Well." She hid the holograms and looked at him. The boy stared back at her for a few seconds before raising a hesitant hand to touch her hair. Elisabeth picked up his other hand gently and guided it to his own hair.

"That's right, it's almost the same colour as yours!" She couldn't resist the urge to tickle him gently while his arm was raised. Vaughn immediately tensed and dropped his arm stiffly to conceal his vulnerable spots. They stared reprovingly at one another for a moment before Elisabeth tried again.

"What? What is that grumpy face for?" Her face lit up as though she'd suddenly had a marvellous idea. "Are you telling me you aren't .. ticklish?"

She had crept her fingers towards his middle again while she was speaking and now she wriggled them against his ribs playfully. Vaughn's face twisted into a begrudging smile. Elisabeth pretended to be shocked and pointed at his face.

"What's that? What's that I see? Is it a smile? I think it is .."

She tickled him again, and this time, he burst out into a fit of giggles. Elisabeth laughed along with him. They repeated this process a couple of times until finally Elisabeth noticed someone out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see her Head Nurse watching them in amusement.

"You two are going to wake up the whole Infirmary."

Elisabeth grinned unrepentantly as Ogawa approached.

"Sorry. We were just about to go find something to eat anyway." She looked back at Vaughn, who turned from staring warily at Ogawa to meet her eyes again. The Nurse watched as the growing smile on the boy's face was mirrored on Elisabeth's and shook her head.

"Careful, Doctor, or you'll fall in love with him and want to take him home yourself."

Elisabeth exchanged a laughing look with the other woman.

"All part of the job, I'm afraid."

She turned toward the small room in the back where they kept the little fridge tucked away and bounced Vaughn on her hip.

"Now, let's see if we can't find this little munchkin something to eat."

* * *

Harlon melted into the shadows as he led his group of prodigals back into the colony that night. Tired, nervous, and battle-worn as they were, the group had been comprised of mostly original Sixers and so had suffered far less casualties than the first returning company. The Sixers would usually choose death over seeking help at the Infirmary at any rate, and so they came in at night, unnoticed and ungreeted, filtering back into the colony life over the next few days so gradually that barely anyone noticed they had returned. Harlon kept to himself. When he did surface, he seemed to slink back to his own shack shortly afterwards without saying a word to anyone. Jim had the grace not to take him to task. He was humiliated, the leader of a failed rebellion, and everyone in the colony knew about it.

Mira was the last to return, but she soon did, to Jim's relief - and indeed, the great relief of the colony in general, as there were few people that hadn't grown to respect Mira over the years .. even if that respect hadn't quite developed into genuine affection. Less than 48 hours after the first company returned, the final group of deserters wandered through the gate. Not even Mira had managed to escape without some losses, and these she blamed on herself, though one wouldn't have known it to look at her. Mira's scars she kept hidden, but they were still there regardless, and it would turn out to be quite some time before she could lay eyes on Boylan again without wanting to ring his thick neck. Despite being shaken and somewhat traumatised by what she had witnessed, Sienna had come through the ordeal better than most. The return to colony life was the best thing for her, and she surprised even herself by how easy it was to slip back into normal activities and dismiss the previous adventure as little more than a horrifying dream.

Many of the colonists who were lucky enough to make it back soon wished they hadn't. Their destroyed homes had been reduced to skeletal remains, their belongings were either washed away or so eaten at by mould and water that they had to be thrown away anyway. Their neighbours treated them with censure, ignoring them when they could and throwing barbed pleasantries at them when they couldn't. The security team assisted in home repairs where they could, and certain kind souls brought donations, but life was miserable for quite some time. They had done what they thought was best for their families. Had circumstances been different and they been the lucky ones, they would have been seen as heroes, people wise enough to have the foresight to get out while they still could. Unfortunately for them, life hadn't worked out in their favour this time, and they were seen as deserters, a label which stuck with them until some greater crisis arose which would weld the cracks and unite the colony again. In the meantime, life slowly began to return to normal, the water soon disappeared completely, and for the most part, the great clean-up took precedence over any other occupation.

For a small group keeping watch near the fence upon the dawn of the following night, however, the immediate future held other plans entirely.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Dr. Kensinge's crew, being camped atop a rocky embankment quite a distance to the north, had come through the other side of the floods relatively unscathed. Sure, one of the huts they used as a barracks had collapsed during the night a few days ago, but the shack had been a disaster waiting to happen anyway and only minor injuries had resulted. Maybe it would teach them a lesson. What was that story about building a house on the sand?

Kensinge shifted where she crouched. Her knees were killing her. How much longer did they have to wait before making their move? She was getting tired of studying this portion of the dark fence nearby. Surely it had to be close to 11:00.

She had deferred to her right-hand man to lead this operation. Esteban might have been a little soft at times for a Phoenix soldier, but he had a better head for battle strategy than most. Her mind wandered back to the hushed briefing they had conducted earlier with a select few men - men that had been hand-picked for this operation.

_"According to our sources, the Terra Nova security systems go back on tomorrow. We need to move now. Captain Esteban will run point on this one. Do whatever he tells you to do." Kensinge stepped back and gestured for the man beside her to take the lead. "Captain." _

_Esteban had nodded and folded his arms. He never seemed to have to try hard to capture his men's attention. From the minute he began to speak, every eye in the room was on him. It was a quality Kensinge would never admit she envied .. but given the fact that she struggled to command attention in any given situation, it was a quality she envied nonetheless. She hated raising her voice above people, preferring to spend most of her time in silence with only the low humming of her equipment for company. She could be dangerous enough when she had to be, but appearing dangerous was another problem entirely, she mused. Sometimes she wondered why anyone bothered to take her seriously at all. Watching Esteban confidently handing orders out beside her, however, she realised she had her answer. They followed her because he did .. which could pose a problem in the future should he start making up his own mind about things. She'd have to be careful. Retention of her future authority may require keeping him on a shorter leash. _

_"The shift swaps over at 11:00pm." The captain was saying. "We'll have a few minutes during the changing of the guard and that's it." _

_He caught a few hidden smiles around the group and nodded his acknowledgment of the stereotype. _

_"Yes, I know it's cliche, but it works. Our mission is to protect Dr. Kensinge while she does what she has to do and that is it. No variations. We go in and come out clean. Understood?" _

_The other soldiers nodded their comprehension. It wasn't anything they hadn't done a hundred times before. The blonde woman struggled to maintain a semblance of calm. She was probably the most uneasy of all of them. _

"It's time. Let's go." She suddenly heard Esteban's low voice carry across to her through the darkness. The soldier beside her stood, remaining low, and began to move off toward the fence. Kensinge followed. The plan was to keep her in the back until they were sure of their safety and then open the way for her to move forward unhindered. She stared up at the fence as they passed under it. It was taller than it had looked, looming up high above them like a shadowy beacon. She could almost feel its inanimate disapproval of what they were about to do. She suppressed a shiver as Esteban appeared beside her.

"You're up, Doctor."

She nodded her recognition and moved forward slowly, her nerves sharpened to pinpoints under her skin. She could feel every faint movement of the night air around her, every time her clothes brushed against her, every pebble that threatened to crunch under her feet. She crept across the wide stretch of mud which had not too long ago been a grassy patch of lawn bordering the fence. She moved carefully, all too aware that any particularly loud squelch could give them all away. Esteban moved silently beside her, stealth coming as naturally to him as breathing. She only had a split second to feel annoyed before she reached the Probe and all other thoughts faded away. There was no more nervousness, no more irritation. She didn't even notice when the rest of the company fell back to take cover against the Infirmary while she ducked down behind her target, the sheer size of the monument obscuring her from the guard tower's view. She was here for one reason and one reason only. She had a job to do.

She ran her hands over the legendary device in awe. How long had she waited for this moment? How many times had she dreamed of being close enough to touch it? Now it sat in front of her as though it had been waiting patiently for her this entire time. She pulled her tools out of her inner coat pocket and set to work removing the cover plate, taking it off and setting it down beside her as she knelt in the mud. Now she could see what she was doing. She held a small dim torch in her mouth and examined the now-exposed internals of the Probe, resisting the urge to shake her head and throw beams of light around when she saw what she was dealing with. The inside of the Probe was slightly muddy and a little battered. Certain components looked as though they'd been blown apart by force.

"Piece of junk." She muttered under her breath as she disconnected the worst-looking pieces. "Must've damaged it during the battle. Philistines."

She pulled a new component out of her other pocket and replaced the transmission element inside the Probe. This kind of work she was better suited for, the kind of work Esteban knew absolutely nothing about. This was _her_ area of expertise, and she worked quickly and quietly, finishing sooner than even she had expected to.

Once the casing was replaced, she gave the Probe a silent pat of farewell, glanced cautiously around, and darted back to where her men were waiting behind the Infirmary. Esteban stepped out of the shadows to greet her.

"It's done?"

She nodded.

"It's done."

"All this effort for an overpowered beacon?"

She turned to the soldier who had made the low comment with a scornful glint in her eye.

"You really don't have a clue what this thing can do, do you?"

Before he could answer, however, another quiet voice interjected from the other side of Kensinge.

"Well, what do we have here."

She turned sharply to see a figure leaning on the wall behind her, her view obscured shortly thereafter as Esteban quickly stepped forward and placed himself between the doctor and the intruder. Harlon stood calmly.

"I wouldn't try anything too clever." He kept his voice soft, but there was an unmistakeable note of warning in it. "My men have you surrounded, but luckily for you, the guards don't know you're here .. yet."

Kensinge stepped forward again, to her captain's great displeasure.

"You're a Sixer, aren't you?"

Harlon nodded sagely.

"That's right. And shall I ask who you are and what you're doing here, or are you going to be difficult?"

She felt Esteban begin to move beside her, but Kensinge held a hand up to halt him, tilting her head at the Sixer curiously.

"A better question might be what we can do for _you_." As Harlon's eyebrows rose a little, she was encouraged to continue. "Things are going to get interesting around here real soon. You might want to consider your options."

Harlon folded his arms, his racing mind providing an unpleasant slideshow of his recent failures. This development was unexpected, but not necessarily unwelcome. He pursed his lips for a moment and then nodded slightly.

"I'm listening."

"Not here." Kensinge flicked her head back the way they had come. "Follow me."

* * *

"No! They have no right to keep me out here! THIS IS A MUTINY!"

The entity on the receiving end of this loud lecture didn't seem to be enjoying it half as much as the person giving it, but Taylor was too wound up to notice. It had been a horrible day of failed hunting, he was starving and miserable and the sight of the snug colony at the bottom of the hill with all its little citizens tucked up in their warm, comfortable beds didn't make him feel any better. That should be HIM down there, eating until he was satisfied and sleeping without fear of man or beast. Instead, he was stuck out HERE.

"How DARE they?!" He screamed to the starry sky as he stormed around his weak campfire. "This is my colony. I built it!"

He paused in front of the large crocodilian that was intently studying his movements, every powerful muscle tensed to charge should the need arise. Taylor didn't notice this either. He waved the large stick he was carrying around and threw it violently.

_"I AM the colony!" _

He realised his mistake half a second later as a collection of sharp teeth sent a searing pain down his right arm. The creature had finally had enough of the yelling and decided to do his part to put a stop to the temper tantrum. Taylor screamed louder and kicked the dinosaur in the throat until it released him, then when the Kap lunged again, the former commander drew his left arm up and smacked him so hard that the beast stumbled backward. The dinosaur was easily bigger than he was when standing on its hind legs, and could have bitten his entire arm off without a second thought if he'd wanted to, but at this moment, logic was the last thing on Taylor's mind. He massaged his aching arm and stared coldly at the cowering animal. The Kaprosuchus stared back at him just as unpleasantly. Taylor raised an arm to swipe at the reopened cut on his lip - the product of another adventure throughout the day. He glanced disgustedly at the bright red blood on his arm and then back to the sulking dinosaur.

"Serves you right, you little menace."

If a dinosaur could roll his eyes, the Kaprosuchus would have done so in a heartbeat. The puny man in front of him couldn't have hurt him if he'd wanted to, but the fact that he was even crazy enough to attempt it afforded him a certain amount of respect, not that the dinosaur would have put it into as many words. As Taylor slumped back down by the fire to nurse his war wounds, his nemesis followed and, after waiting a few moments for a reaction and receiving none, dropped down near the man. Taylor didn't push him away.

* * *

Two days after the less-than-triumphant return of the last prodigal company, Jim found himself venturing into the ruined Bar, followed by six soldiers. The water was completely gone now, but it had left behind a horrendous mess .. along with a stench powerful enough to knock the glasses off a 90-year-old yak. Boylan, predictably, was inside, bent over the bar and scrubbing as though his life depended on it. He had spent nearly every moment alone in the ruined building since he'd gotten back, leaving only to visit Vaughn a couple of times. Even so, these visits were brief. The boy was doing well without him and so Boylan made the excuse of not wanting to confuse him by turning up at odd times and leaving again. Truth be told, he missed the boy's company so much when he was alone, he thought it best to cut ties altogether and move on, but he couldn't tell Elisabeth that. Better to pretend it was because he had far too much work to do to get this place back on its feet. It was, after all, the truth, and if every section of the clean-up was as stubborn and time-consuming as this bar was turning out to be, his days would be spent right here for the foreseeable future. In fact, he was beginning to wonder if destiny hadn't just handed him a life sentence. As Jim approached, he looked up, red-faced, sweat-laden, and very nearly out of breath.

"What can I do for you today, Shannon?"

Jim gestured to the soldiers behind him calmly.

"Here are the men I promised you."

Boylan forgot what he was doing and looked up quickly.

"You're really helping _me_ after .." The barkeeper was suspicious by nature. He narrowed his eyes and studied the face of the man opposite him.

"I walked out on you."

"Yes. You did. But a deal is a deal."

Boylan hesitated for a moment longer and then slapped the mouldy bar happily.

"Alright. You're a good man, Commander."

"You just remember that next time I book you for your illegal activities." The corner of Jim's mouth twitched as the barkeeper beamed at him. "I'll be back later to check in with you. There's a lot more places that need cleaning up besides this one."

"We'll endeavour to be done as quickly as possible!"

"Good."

Jim smiled to himself as he exited the Bar, the sound of Boylan's enthusiastic voice following him out. The barkeeper was already beginning to bark orders to his new subordinates. The soldiers were in for a fun few hours. The accompanying chuckle died on Jim's lips, however, as a cold voice cut across his path.

"You were lucky this time."

He looked to his right to see Harlon sauntering over. Jim paused to wait for him.

"So the rumours are true. You made it back."

"Yeah, I made it back. No thanks to you."

Jim shook his head mildly, as though he was discussing a point of debate with a very young member of the population.

"I didn't force you to leave. I didn't even encourage it. We all have to take responsibility for our own decisions."

Harlon scoffed and began to pick at a bit of caked mud on the wall of a nearby house.

"Don't let this go to your head, _Commander_. You got lucky."

"You said that."

"And don't you forget it."

The Sixer glared at him hatefully. His ego had been awfully bruised by this whole event, and here this man was giving him lectures like some sort of fatherly saint. Jim watched him, any former trace of familiarity falling from his serious features.

"I don't intend to forget it. We _were_ lucky." Harlon smirked a little as his point hit home, but Jim wasn't finished. "We also improved our odds by making calculated decisions. Luck is subjective."

Harlon curled his lip up into a sneer and shook his head, wandering away carelessly.

"One day your luck's gonna run out, Shannon."

"Is that a threat, or a warning?"

"Mm, neither." Harlon shrugged, turning to address Jim once more. "Just a reminder. Everyone's luck runs out eventually. It's only a matter of time."

"Good to know."

"I'll be seeing you around."

Jim watched the cocky Sixer stroll off with an uneasy feeling in his chest.

"Yes, you will."

* * *

"How are you doin', little guy? You like that fish? Yeah, you like that fish."

The little Ovosaur bounced his head and stretched his neck out, opening his mouth to snap up another slice of raw xiphactinus. Josh clapped with excitement and looked over at his sister's desk.

"Did you see that, Maddy?! I think he likes it almost as much as the nickel!"

Maddy groaned and looked over her shoulder at him dramatically.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? Some of us are trying to work."

"Maddy, look!" Josh was already attempting to coerce the dinosaur to new heights with another piece of fish. "Inky, stay .. stay."

He held up a hand for a few seconds. The little black creature waited tensely. When Josh lowered his hand and gave him a shout of encouragement, Inky burst into a frantic hopping run and cleared the Lab rapidly, reaching Josh within the space of 2 seconds. Josh laughed in delight and scooped him up as he fed him his next piece of fish. Maddy raised her eyebrows.

"Wow. He learns quick .." Something in her voice caused her brother to turn his full attention on her. Maddy continued gently. ".. but Josh, you know you're going to have to let him go eventually, right? I mean, he belongs in the wild."

"He can't survive out there, Maddy. His leg may never be completely healed. He wouldn't stand a chance."

Maddy watched as Josh scratched the little dinosaur's head affectionately. Inky lapped up the attention. She frowned. How could she make it easier for him?

Her task was delayed by the sound of the door as Tasha entered the Lab. Maddy groaned loudly and placed her Plex down on the desk.

"I'm never going to get any work done today, am I?" She muttered.

Tasha gave her a wave as she approached, then turned her attention to Josh. He had his back to her, but looked over his shoulder as she came near, his face instantly lighting up.

"Tasha! Hi!"

She smiled back at him.

"Not much going on over at the greenhouse. What are you up to?"

Josh grinned.

"Funny .. you should ask .."

He wiped his fishy hand on his lab coat and turned to face her, his attention so focused on the little ovosaur that he didn't notice her immediate two steps back or the fact that she was growing paler by the second. Maddy, however, saw everything.

"Josh .."

"This .. is Inky!" Josh exclaimed proudly, rubbing the underside of the creature's long neck. "It's about time you met each other."

"Josh .." Maddy repeated, but Inky got in first. He studied Tasha with his beady eyes for a moment and then screeched so loudly he made even Josh jump, the spines on his head standing up simultaneously.

Tasha screamed and stumbled backward, almost knocking over a tray table in the process. Josh laughed in surprise.

"Woah, are you alright? Come on over and say hello to him. He won't bite."

Tasha gathered herself and shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No, I can't."

Josh grinned and rolled his eyes a little.

"Come on, Tasha. He's just a baby. What's he gonna do?"

Tasha stared at Inky silently, but took another hurried step back as Josh attempted to walk towards her.

"Keep it away! I can't!" She took a shaky breath as tears began to flood her eyes. "I never want to see that thing again, you hear me? I _mean_ it, Josh. Never!"

Josh stared in astonishment as she fled from the room, the door slamming shut behind her. He turned to put Inky back into his cage miserably as Maddy shook her head.

"Wow, brother. I think she likes you."

Josh shut the cage firmly and slid the bolt home more loudly than was necessary.

"Shut up, Maddy."

* * *

Jim wasn't the only visitor the Bar would receive that morning. Just over an hour later, a small group of young girls wandered in. Boylan turned to see the three staring around with wide eyes. Sienna's mouth gaped open.

"What a mess."

"You can say that again." He threw his filthy rag across his shoulder and leaned on the bar, beckoning them over to him. "How may I help you girls?"

Zoe smiled as they approached.

"We're writing an article for the school paper about the clean-up effort .."

Boylan raised an eyebrow as she hesitated. There was obviously more to this story.

".. and?"

Zoe glanced at Leah and then back to the barkeeper sheepishly.

".. and we're normally not allowed in here."

"Ahh, win-win then." Boylan winked at them, smiling as they visibly relaxed. It must've taken some guts even to venture in here. He clasped his hand together in front of him. "Well, then, you better go make sure my cleaners are doing their jobs. Keep them on the straight and narrow .. as much as possible."

Sienna laughed as Zoe grinned back at him.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Just .." Boylan paused as though a thought had just occurred to him. "Try not to get too dirty, or your dad'll have my head."

Zoe snorted and pointed to herself innocently.

"Dirty? _Me?_"

Boylan shook his head in mock disapproval.

"Yeah, yeah, get on then."

The girls grinned and proceeded with their interviews. The soldiers were all working hard, if not cheerfully. It seemed a few of them resented the fact that they had been forced to submit to Boylan's authority. Some of them explained that they were simply happy to get the Bar back up and running as soon as possible. Life was boring without it.

A few minutes after they had begun their inspection, another girl of about the same age group charged into the Bar, paying little heed to anyone or anything. She was obviously on a mission. Spying her classmates on the other side of the establishment, she made a curious noise in her throat and set off confidently across the muddy room directly towards them. Boylan, watching from the bench, found himself thanking his lucky stars she hadn't set her sights on him. He threw an exasperated look at Rooney, his assistant bartender.

"Are we to be invaded by every little girl in the colony before the day's out?!"

The young man threw a laughing look back, but said nothing. Zoe, Leah, and Sienna turned to meet the new girl as she approached.

"Oh, hey-"

"Oh, there you are." The tall Asian girl folded her arms and pursed her lips. "I should've known. Miss Alice is looking for you. You were supposed to report in half an hour ago."

"Oh." Zoe grimaced. "I forgot. Thanks, Hannah."

The other girl glanced around in displeasure at the dirty building and then settled a cold stare on Sienna.

"You better make sure you do your share of the work too, deserter."

Zoe and Leah immediately frowned, but Sienna responded in a calm, dignified manner reminiscent of her mother.

"I always do."

Hannah curled her lip.

"I'm honestly astonished you had the audacity to show your face back here at all." She glanced around again at the putrid-smelling tables, half of which were already rotting, and smiled suddenly. "Then again, you did return to this trash heap, so maybe you do know your place after all."

Sienna could feel Leah bristling on her right. If she didn't manage to diffuse this situation soon, it would explode, and Leah with it. Sienna took a deep breath. Carter had once called her the princess of the Sixers. Now was the time to prove it. She shrugged a little, meeting the other girl's eyes quietly.

"Looks aren't everything."

"Well, you would say that." Hannah sneered. "Everyone knows Sixers are born ugly."

Sienna raised her chin a little.

"My mom says you don't have to be pretty to be dangerous."

The other girl snorted and folded her arms. It was clear by the victorious smile on her face that she believed she'd already won the verbal battle.

"Your mom? You mean the Sixer overlord? .. yeah."

Zoe stepped forward to try and smooth the rapidly-escalating situation over. Sienna generally liked to fight her own battles, but enough was enough.

"Hannah, there's no need to be rude."

Hannah turned to her slowly, not in the least discouraged by the odds against her.

"You really think I'd listen to you? You're no better than them. Your family has been on the Sixers' side from the moment you got here."

Zoe's forehead creased worriedly. This little spat was ridiculous, but she was old enough to realise it was simply a symptom of a bigger problem. She sighed.

"Why do there have to be sides? We're all out here in this huge, dangerous place trying to survive together. We're all on the same side!"

"No, we're not." Hannah was hardly moved by the sentiment. "There's us. And there's the Sixers. There's _us_ .." she reiterated ".. and our enemies. Honestly, Zoe, I don't know why you insist on standing up for them. They're dirty, smelly traitors who won't hesitate to stab you in the back at a moment's notice. They're no good, and they can't be trusted."

This was as much as Leah's fuse would allow her to tolerate. With a wild yell, she flew at the girl, knocking her over into the mud with surprising force. Zoe and Sienna blinked in shock. It had happened so rapidly, no one had had a chance to restrain her.

"Don't you EVER talk about the Sixers like that AGAIN." Leah was shaking Hannah's now-filthy shoulders roughly. "Do you hear me? NEVER."

The other girl stared up at her defiantly, not wanting to admit defeat, but also wary of angering the blonde firecracker further. Leah narrowed her eyes.

"Something tells me you aren't gonna remember so easy. I think you need an object lesson."

Hannah's eyes widened and she struggled to sit up, but Leah was the stronger of the two and squashed her back down into the mud again with a splat. The impact sent wet brown globules flying all around. Zoe and Sienna stared at each other's grime-splashed faces reluctantly, then turned back to the duo on the ground.

"Leah, come on-"

"Now .." Leah ignored them and remained in position, sitting firmly upon the other girl's stomach. Hannah had ceased her struggling and was beginning to look worried. Her concern increased tenfold as Leah raised her fist in preparation to attack. "Do you want to see out of your left eye or your right?"

"No! Please .."

Hannah's chin was trembling now and her eyes brimmed with tears. Zoe shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose like she'd seen her father do many times. Sienna reached a hand out to try and calm her friend.

"Leah-"

But Leah was enjoying this situation far more than she should have been. She considered her upraised fist thoughtfully.

"Or shall we go for the nose? Don't worry, it'll heal eventually, though the scars might be permanent."

"_What_ is going on here?"

All of the girls except Hannah jumped guiltily as Boylan's voice boomed out from nearby. He had reached them a second later, with Dunham close behind. Leah glared up at him.

"SHE said-"

"I don't care what she said." Boylan folded his arms sternly. "I have a rule against bar fights."

At a nod from the barkeeper, Dunham dragged Leah off Hannah and hauled her up. Boylan stooped to help the other girl to her feet.

"You alright?" He questioned.

She nodded hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Good."

Leah pulled against Dunham's hands angrily, but his firm grip held her back.

"You don't understand! She-"

"Enough." Boylan snapped. "I don't wanna hear any more about it."

"But .." Leah trailed off as she caught sight of another person approaching. Reilly had entered the Bar moments earlier to check on her team and had immediately noticed the commotion in the far corner. The little group remained silent as she strode up. All of the younger girls adored Reilly. The Sergeant glanced at each participant one by one before turning her attention to Boylan.

"What's going on?"

Boylan eyed the dirty children severely.

"These little hooligans are having a throwdown in my Bar."

"I see." Reilly scanned the awestruck faces seriously. "Girls, apologise to Mr. Boylan."

The other three girls apologised immediately, looking embarrassed and humiliated regardless of their particular roles in the event, but Leah stared back stubbornly.

"You don't understand. She-"

"I don't care why it happened, Leah." Reilly studied the girl firmly. "Your behaviour was unacceptable. Apologise. Now."

Leah scowled darkly at her, much to the horror of her politer comrades.

"Why do we need to apologise to him? I didn't hit _him, _or he'd be on the floor with mudskipper over here."

An odd noise came from Dunham and he nudged the girl roughly. Leah finally had the grace to smile a little.

"Sorry."

"I should think so." Boylan smiled at Reilly. "Many thanks, Sergeant. I think this has worked for the good after all. I could use a bit of extra help getting this place back in order."

Reilly returned the smile and nodded approvingly, casting a warning glance at a couple of the girls as they began to protest.

"That's a great idea. Nothing like a bit of solid labour for teaching us to work together, isn't that right, Corporal?"

Dunham, having been unexpectedly addressed, had little time to formulate any response but "Yes, that's right, Ma'am."

The corner of Reilly's mouth twitched upwards, but she retained her solemn demeanour.

"Well, I can see you have it handled, Mr. Boylan, and Corporal Dunham, you're doing such good work here, I think I'll let you stay for a little while longer."

Dunham had little choice but to agree meekly.

"Yes, Ma'am."

That being said, Reilly deferred to Boylan for the next set of instructions - the giving of which he carried out promptly, pointing to each member of the group in turn.

"Right, you and you, start wiping those tables. You two come with me. I have several cabinets full of mud for you to play in, since you're so fond of it."

When Jim returned later to gather the soldiers, he was greeted instead with the sight of his daughter half-hidden within one of the cupboards beneath the bar, a messy sponge in one hand. She tumbled out a few seconds later and sat in the mud looking up at her father, her face mirroring his own surprise.

"Dad!"

"Zoe."

He glanced over at Sienna nearby, a similar sponge in her hand. She looked as though she'd had an equally rough morning. He suppressed a smile and raised an eyebrow.

"Well .. what happened here?"

"Just helping clean up." Zoe responded, a little guiltily.

"And doing a marvellous job." Boylan's voice came from behind them. "Isn't that right, girls?"

He exchanged a knowing look with the two, who nodded innocently at Jim.

"Is that right?" Jim smiled affectionately at his mud-covered daughter. "Well, I'm proud of you for helping out, and I'm sure Boylan is grateful, but by the looks of things, you've done about enough for today."

Both Shannons looked to Boylan, who nodded amiably.

"You're free to go. Thanks for the help."

Jim put an arm around Zoe as she threw her sponge into a nearby bucket.

"Come on." He looked down at her brown-smeared face and laughed. "Let's get you cleaned up before your mother sees you."

* * *

Josh entered the greenhouse quietly. It didn't take long to spy Tasha, exactly where Robert Stanley, her boss, had said she would be. He drew closer hesitantly. She didn't look mad, standing beneath a large hybrid tree and tending gently to the leaves. He looked around him. He hadn't been inside the greenhouse before, but it was bigger than it appeared on the outside. The plexiglass ceiling reached up so high, he wondered if it would be possible to survive if one fell from it. Tasha turned as he neared, offering a small smile to him.

"Hi."

"Hi .."

He leaned against the bamboo railing beside her and stared at the surrounding plants. She continued tending to her tree. Finally, he gathered up enough resolve to speak.

"I'm sorry."

Tasha smiled a little - a sad, lonely sort of smile that wrenched a part of Josh's heart out. She took off her gardening gloves slowly and turned to lean against the fence as well.

"It's alright, it's not your fault. You didn't know."

"I should have."

They were quiet for a moment before Tasha sighed in frustration and then spoke, in a more forceful tone of voice than he'd ever heard her use before.

"I'm not like Skye, Josh. I'm not brave and .. athletic and good at just about everything. I'm just .. well, me." She looked up into the branches of the tree above and shook her head, whether expressing disapproval of herself or Josh, he couldn't decide. "And I know she's got this sort of wild streak that you're fascinated by, and I get it."

Josh raised an eyebrow, but couldn't find the words to contradict her as Tasha continued.

"I've known her for a long time, and I love her. I do .. but she's hard to live up to. We basically grew up together, and she's always been that way. Kind of mysterious and plays by her own rules, and you want to follow her because it's exciting, but at the same time, you can't bear the thought of being perpetually terrified cause you never know whether her next impulse will be her last. And you know her restlessness might lead you into trouble one day, but you follow her anyway. Because despite everything .. you just can't help yourself."

Tasha sighed wearily and looked up to see Josh watching her with an uneasy frown.

"It's actually really disconcerting when you get in my head like that."

This drew a soft laugh from her.

"Well, my Dad always said I was perceptive."

"Oh, your Dad? You mean the big serious army guy that could probably snap my neck six different ways in three seconds? That guy?"

"Yeah, that's the one!"

"Oh, great. Glad we're on the same page."

Tasha laughed.

"He's not that bad once you get to know him."

Josh shuddered.

"If I live that long."

"You do realise you're starting to sound like Mark .."

Josh groaned.

"Does that mean I have to go easy on him now?" He glanced sideways at Tasha for a second, then shook his head. "Nah. Let's just keep this between us."

She laughed again, a happy, musical sound that filled the conservatory and made him want to smile like an idiot at the same time.

"Hey." He elbowed her gently. "No one expects you to be Skye. If I wanted to be with Skye, I'd be with her."

The patchy light trickling in from the window played on her face and hair as she smiled up at him. For a moment, Josh felt his heart stop. She might not be as exciting and chaotic as Skye, but she was something else. She was gentle and kind and she seemed to understand things that no one else could see. She was beautiful and .. angelic. Josh suddenly laughed at himself, causing Tasha to stare at him curiously, unconsciously mirroring his expression.

"What is it?"

".. nothing." He stared around at the plants, still grinning. "But for what it's worth, I think you're pretty awesome."

Tasha smiled up at him.

"I think you're pretty great too."

Josh nodded in satisfaction and put an arm around her.

"Good. Now how about you introduce me to some of your extended family members?"

It took a few seconds before a look of comprehension replaced the confusion on Tasha's face, but finally she laughed again as realisation dawned.

"Very well. Where shall we begin?"

Josh shrugged happily.

"Anywhere."

"Alright." Tasha assumed a more serious tone of voice as she began the tour, gesturing to each plant in turn as she passed it. "This is Larry .."


	29. Chapter 28 - It Takes a Village

**Chapter 28**

_It Takes a Village_

"You're not listening to what I'm saying. _We_ can take him."

Jim ran a hand through his hair as he watched his wife potter around the kitchen.

"Honey, I know you want to, but just think for a second. We have so much going on .. I'm not sure this is the best thing for us right now."

Elisabeth paused to pour sauce over the crispy fish platter in front of her before turning to face her husband.

"And what about the best thing for him?"

Jim threw his hands out pleadingly.

"Elisabeth, this isn't a pet! This is another _child_. A child we know next-to-nothing about, whose parents we barely met, and who's been through things we can't even imagine. A child is an enormous commitment."

"I know, Jim." Elisabeth snapped in exasperation. "I did raise three."

Jim fell silent for a moment as his wife threw a handful of assorted herbs over the dish. Elisabeth was very hard to dissuade when her heart started pulling her in a certain direction. He was in for the fight of his life over this. Elisabeth shook the dish to settle the herbs and then turned to him with a gentler expression.

"And don't you think the fact that he HAS been through a lot is enough reason to want to give him a bit of security?"

Jim leaned on the kitchen counter, his voice softening to match hers.

"We have our own children to worry about, we can't-"

"Josh and Maddy have their own lives now." Elisabeth opened the cupboard and pulled out 6 plates. "Jim, I have a really strong feeling about this. He needs us. This isn't the 2100s. We can't just look the other way and hope the system takes care of it. There _is_ no system here. We have a responsibility to look after each other."

"But starting all over again?! Elisabeth .. no." Jim shook his head with certainty. "No. Forget it. It's impossible."

Elisabeth paused and looked him in the eye expectantly.

"Is this your final word on the subject?"

There was something in his wife's voice that warned him to tread carefully henceforth. Jim opened his mouth to respond and then closed it again, only to open it again half a second later.

"Well, what do you propose to do with him when you're working?" He challenged, attempting to appeal to the more practical side of his wife's nature. "There's no one to look after him!"

Elisabeth seemed to have an answer prepared for everything.

"In a year or two, he can go to school with Zoe. Until then, there's Josh, or Mark and Maddy, or me, or he could go and sit in your office with you like Zoe does sometimes. Put him on a mat in the corner. During the week when everyone's working .. Boylan can look after him."

"Boylan?!" Jim circumvented the bench and followed his wife to the door of his son's room. "Elisabeth, _Boylan?!_ Your plan is for a two-year-old to spend his days at the Bar with an ex-con?"

Elisabeth snorted in Jim's direction before sticking her head into Josh's room.

"Dinnertime, Josh!" She began to make her way back to the kitchen, Jim following in her wake. "First of all, stop exaggerating. Secondly, yes, Boylan. You saw him the other day, I think they're good for each other. And you know the Bar is mostly empty during the daytime."

"Elisabeth .."

"And Maddy's leaving in less than 4 weeks." Elisabeth put the finishing touches on the dinner table and moved to answer the knock on the door, Jim still following close behind. "He can stay in Zoe's room. I'm sure she'd approve of the idea, and I think it would be good for her as well. She's going to miss her sister terribly. I don't think even she quite realises how much .. and you know Josh has always wanted a little brother .. hi!"

She abandoned the conversation to hug Mark and welcome him in. As she proceeded to reassure him that Maddy would be home shortly, Jim moved aside, his ears tuning in instead to the curious voice behind him.

"Josh has always wanted what?"

Jim turned to his son wearily, feeling as though he was losing the battle.

"Your mother is trying to volunteer us to adopt the little boy from the attack."

Josh blinked.

"Cool."

"She's what?" Maddy, having just materialised from the growing darkness outside, stepped over the threshold and into the house. She looked from Elisabeth to Jim in confusion. "But you said-"

"I know what I said!" Jim threw his hands up and let them drop dramatically. "Not my idea."

"Mark!" Zoe appeared and flung herself at her future brother-in-law, who leaned forward to return the embrace.

"Hey, kiddo!"

"Seriously, Dad? You think your ancient bones can keep up with another one of those?" Josh flung his hand at his youngest sister with a grin. As he dodged Jim's half-hearted retaliation, Zoe stared up at Elisabeth, Mark's hands still on her shoulders.

"Mommy, are you pregnant?!"

"What?!" Every eye in the building turned to stare at Elisabeth's startled face. After a moment, she laughed uncomfortably. "No, honey."

"Oh." Zoe's face fell instantly. Elisabeth noted the expression and threw one of her own at Jim, who pretended not to notice.

"Well, we'll see what happens. The colony is full of people that would love to take a little boy." He cast an admiring eye over the table. "I hope you all thank your mother for the hard work she put into dinner. Now let's eat it before it gets cold."

He moved hurriedly to take his seat at the head of the table. Elisabeth rolled her eyes and exchanged a laughing look with Maddy, but they followed nonetheless. When everyone had been served and Josh had finally stopped complaining about his lack of leg room, Jim turned his attention to Zoe.

"So, you want to tell us what you got up to today, Pumpkin?"

Zoe met his eyes hesitantly for a moment, considering her answer. Her father bounced his eyebrows at her and took a bite of his bread. Zoe nodded slowly.

"Alright."

With that, she turned away from him and, avoiding his gaze, launched into an excited tale about a literacy project she had coming up. Jim subsided and waited patiently for the conversation to dwindle, but Zoe was stretching the explanation out for as long as possible.

"And she said we could write about anything, so long as we wrote about something we'd be interested in reading about-"

"So what, you're writing a 12-part epic about crime-fighting vampires?" Josh interjected with a grin.

"Can't." Zoe retorted. "I'm too busy helping Leah finish her draft about you."

Mark let out a delighted laugh as Josh groaned loudly, turning to point a finger at his future brother-in-law.

"Not a word of this to anyone, understand?"

"My lips are sealed." Mark picked up a nearby bowl and offered it to Josh with a polite smile. "Potatoes?"

"No." Josh scowled. "Thank you."

"That sounds like just your kind of assignment." Jim placed his fork down resolutely and smiled pleasantly at his youngest daughter. "But isn't there something else that you did today that you might like to tell your mother?"

Zoe frowned.

"Hm?"

Josh grinned across at Maddy, who returned the look in confusion. Jim forced himself not to laugh.

"I seem to remember a little something that went down at the Bar .."

Zoe's face cleared.

"Ohh .."

"Ohhh." Jim echoed teasingly, shaking his head at her.

Elisabeth was staring at Zoe in bewildered amusement.

"You went to the Bar?"

Jim snorted as Zoe opened her mouth to reply.

"That's not even the half of it. Something about mud wrestling and community service?" He gestured to his youngest daughter in anticipation as his wife's perplexed frown just about doubled in intensity. "Go on."

With a self-deprecating grin, Zoe began. She told a good story, and within a few minutes, the entire table was shouting intermittently with laughter and had forgotten the previous order of business entirely.

* * *

The forest glowed with hundreds of dying rays of light that filtered their way through the trees as yet another day faded away. Carter strolled peacefully through it all, taking care to place each foot down as quietly as possible, but largely unconcerned by the ever-present dangers of wandering through the jungle at dusk. This area was his own personal backyard, and he was in no particular hurry. Nevertheless ..

The sudden shiver of hair standing up on the back of his neck and the faint rhythmical pattering behind him were his first indications that something was not as it should be. Carter had the instincts of a cat, and the warning had come just in time. His abrupt about-face made the creature in the bushes hesitate and gave him a fraction of a second to focus in on the enemy before it began to advance again. The creature's cold eyes locked onto Carter's as it melted away from the foliage and drew itself forward into the flickering golden shadows.

Carter removed his curved hunting knife from its sheath as he tensed, his gaze still levelled on the dinosaur, but his senses alert to any other movement around him that might have warned of an ambush. There was nothing.

"Oh .." The monster had slowed its approach and stood watching him, swishing its tail back and forth slightly. Fully out in the open now, Carter studied the long head, the rows of sharp teeth on either side, the intelligent, slitted eyes, and suddenly realised why the creature seemed so familiar. ".. I remember you."

The Kaprosuchus' muscles were coiled and ready. Carter readied himself as well. Suddenly the creature's eyes seemed to snap and Carter unconsciously raised his knife a little. The air around them was still and tense. It was about to make its move.

_"At ease!"_

The loud, commanding voice came from directly behind him and echoed around the trees. Carter had more self-dignity than to jump out of his skin, but if the option to flee the clearing immediately had arisen in that moment, he would have gladly taken it. He turned to glance at the person behind him before backing away to the side, making sure he had a clear view of both man and beast.

"Oh .." The Sixer said again, taking in the ragged clothes and unkept nature of the newest member of the party. "I also remember you."

"I suppose I should be flattered." Taylor narrowed his eyes at the Kaprosuchus, who had begun to creep closer again. "Hey!"

He darted forward, swinging a large stick at the creature and narrowly missing its face as it pulled away sharply.

"Get back!"

The dinosaur dropped to the ground and waited, feigning boredom but still apparently taking in every movement. Taylor turned back to Carter.

"What are you doing out here?"

Carter folded his arms.

"I could ask you the same question."

"Yes, you could." Taylor conceded. "But right now, I'm the only thing standing between you and him, so I'd show a little respect if I were you, boy."

"I think I'd rather take my chances with him."

A dry smile twisted at the sides of Taylor's stubbly cheeks.

"We'll see." He picked at a loose piece of bark on the branch he was holding. "Actually, your timing is better than most. There's something you might be able to help me with."

Carter cast a sidelong look at the creature lying in the grass. He hadn't moved, but he was still watching closely. Carter turned back to Taylor.

"What are you talking about?"

Taylor seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before suddenly making up his mind. He nodded in the direction of a nearby outcrop.

"Come on."

"What, so you can kill me in a more convenient location?"

"If I wanted you dead, I would've let him do it." Taylor gestured to the Kaprosuchus as it slowly raised itself from its resting spot. "This isn't the time for squabbles. This is bigger than both of us."

Carter folded his arms and hesitated still. Taylor grew impatient.

"Are you coming or not?"

The Sixer was silent for a moment and then finally shrugged and followed. It went against his better judgement, but his curiosity was piqued by this strange meeting and something told him he wouldn't be able to follow the old man without his knowledge. Taylor nodded in satisfaction and led the way south, Carter falling in beside him, still clutching his hunting knife tightly in his right hand. He moved his fingers every few seconds to keep them from locking up and preventing the quick reaction he might need to rely on at a moment's notice. Taylor observed the movement.

"You won't need that." He snapped, yet his admonitions didn't stop him from keeping a ready hand near his own knife pouch. He shoved the Kap out of the way as it wandered too close and then began to jog towards the rocky hill that apparently signalled the end of their journey, glancing over his shoulder at the Sixer. Carter kept pace with him easily, trying not to be impressed. The lean, scruffy man in front of him seemed to be as light on his feet as a mountain goat, though a mountain goat was probably better-looking.

"Hurry up." Taylor was barking at him. "And be quiet. You never know who might be listening around here anymore."

Carter frowned and cast an apprehensive glance around at the trees. Had the former commander completely lost his marbles after all, or was there really some justifiable cause for his apparent paranoia?

Either way, it probably wouldn't be long before he had his answer.

* * *

"What about Howard and Rebecca?"

"Milner?" Elisabeth's brow furrowed as she considered the suggestion. ".. I don't know, Jim."

"Well, what about Reese and Priyanka? They only have the one."

Elisabeth shook her head.

"Nathaniel is younger than Vaughn. You don't adopt a child that's older than the one you've already got. That's just asking for trouble."

Jim raised an eyebrow at Elisabeth.

"I've never heard that."

"Well, it's true." She retorted.

As Jim leaned back, Boylan groaned loudly, the other members of the council expressing similar sentiments.

"We've been at this for almost an hour and gotten nowhere. It'll be noon before you two make a decision."

Malcolm stood suddenly.

"I have work to do. We all have work to do!" He raised a hand impatiently. "All in favour of the Milners adopting the boy?"

Jim and Elisabeth exchanged an uncertain expression as several hands flew up. Boylan's, however, wasn't one of them. The barkeeper leaned closer as Malcolm released a noise akin to a howl of despair and flopped back down again.

"Alright then, Shannon. _You_ take him."

"Me?!" Jim avoided his wife's gaze, choosing to stare disdainfully at the man across from him instead. "Boylan, in case you've somehow forgotten, I already have three children - that's 50% more than the national average as it is."

Boylan spread his hands out and leaned back contentedly, as though the matter had finally come to a peaceful resolution.

"No one else is good enough for you. You obviously think you can raise him better. Take him."

Jim shook his head and was silent for several seconds as the others watched on. They could almost see the wheels turning in his mind.

"Any day now, Commander." Boylan quipped. "I know! How bout we just hand him around to a different person every day, like Pass the Parcel. They do say it takes a village after all."

"I'm not entirely sure that's what "they" meant."

"Aw, come on, it'll be great. He'll love it. A little bit of Sandra in the sun, a little bit of Mary all night long-"

_"Boylan."_

"Then for goodness sake, Make. A. Decision."

The sentiment was echoed by several others around the table. Finally, Jim responded in a low voice.

"Alright." He met Elisabeth's eyes as she looked up at him quickly. "We'll take him."

Several people sighed in unison. Someone was even heard to mutter a _"Hallelujah!"._

"Good!" Boylan smiled in satisfaction as the rest of the council abandoned the discussion. "But if I hear you aren't looking after him properly, I'll personally come over there and make you wish you hadn't been born."

"Duly noted."

Boylan winked at Elisabeth as Jim stood and turned away from the table to watch the rest of the council evacuate the room.

"Right, Malcolm, let your flock in."

Malcolm finished stretching his sore back and snorted before making his way to the entrance.

"They've been waiting so long, you'll be lucky if they want to do any work at all."

As the head researcher went to rouse his troops, Elisabeth paused near her husband and kissed him on the cheek

"Thank you. This is right. I know it is."

"Mhm."

She smiled and shook her head at his lack of enthusiasm.

"I'll bring him home tonight. You can get to know him then!"

"Whatever you think is best."

"Jim!" Elisabeth threw a laughing look at him at she headed out the door. "It'll be fine. Trust me."

Jim managed to summon a weak smile which fell off the second she left the building. His stomach suddenly felt as though it was knotted in six places. He turned to the new arrivals, hoping they would provide the distraction he needed to forget about his digestive system. He was also suddenly aware of the fact that he could feel his heart pounding uncomfortably against his windpipe. Was it supposed to do that?

The Lab techs entered stiffly. They'd been congregating on the steps outside for nearly 45 minutes and subsequently, were rather grumpy about the whole affair. Jim waited until they had settled down and then spoke.

"How are we feeling today? Ready to get down to business?"

There were a few reluctant comments of agreement. Jim raised an eyebrow at Maddy, who grinned back. Lucas, however, didn't appear to be listening at all. He was staring out a nearby window with a faint frown on his face.

"Lucas .. ?" Jim folded his arms and met Maddy's eyes again in amusement. "You with us?"

"The wind outside's got a bit of a bite to it." Lucas muttered distractedly, his frown growing. "It'll be winter soon enough, and it seems to get colder every year. How long do you think an older person could survive out there?"

A couple of the other scientists shook their heads or rolled their eyes. Jim and Malcolm exchanged a look, but said nothing. They had learned it was better to remain silent. These "hypothetical" questions always ended up becoming circular arguments. Lucas simply refused to listen to reason on the subject. Jim clapped his hands together, the sudden bang bringing Lucas hurriedly back to earth.

"Right, thank you all for volunteering your services now that the Lab is back in working order. And thank you for waiting, I apologise for that."

A couple of people inclined their heads benevolently as Jim produced a Plex and began to flick through the listed jobs. They hadn't enjoyed their wait, but they were a forgiving bunch and largely used to chaos and delays. None of them particularly liked the idea of doing Jim's job either, and so they unanimously decided to let it go. Meanwhile, Jim had found the section he was looking for.

"Malcolm - You head over to Francis Baker's house. The water came in when the shields died. It's still a bit of a mess and she thinks it may have done some damage to the generator. I'm sure she'd appreciate some help."

"Right."

"Lucas - I need you to fix the Eye, if it's at all possible. It was submerged for days; it may not be salvageable, but I want you to try."

Lucas raised his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded.

"Yes sir."

"I want you three to-"

"Wait a minute." Malcolm glared at Jim. "He gets to fix the Eye while we're stuck cleaning up some old lady's house?"

"Not "we". "You"." Jim corrected, trying not to sound too gleeful. "I need the others for a different job. And I wouldn't protest too loudly, Malcolm. From what I heard, it was your idea to volunteer your services to begin with."

"It was." Another lab tech confirmed, at the risk of his own life. He wanted to sink into the floor a moment later as Malcolm's glare turned to pierce him instead.

"As I was saying .." Jim proceeded hurriedly before the conversation had a chance to kick itself up a notch. ".. you three can head over to the school. The mould has really taken root inside, and it's too much for the teacher to deal with on her own. Take care not to breathe it in."

The three technicians nodded solemnly.

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, _sir_." Malcolm echoed sarcastically, still glaring daggers at anyone he happened to lock eyes with.

"Leading by example, Malcolm, I love it." Jim grinned, patting the head researcher on the shoulder. He glanced around at his small work crew. "Class dismissed!"

* * *

Sienna looked up from her tablet with a frown. What was that? Had she imagined it? .. She went back to her book, only to raise her head again a second later. No, there it was a second time. A sequence of very light clicks, like a fairy was tap dancing on the door. She stood and made her way over to it, opening it cautiously. When she saw who waited on the other side, she immediately relaxed and swung it open wider.

"Carter, what are you-"

"Hi, kiddo. I need you to give this to Lucas."

Ordinarily, Sienna wouldn't have been surprised at the interruption. The Sixer rarely bothered with polite greetings, but this time, he appeared to be in an unusual hurry. He took hold of her hand and dropped a strange device into it, closing her fingers around it with his own. The object was made of clear plexiglass. The bulge on the end had various wires running through the inside and spilling out of it. Sienna frowned up at him.

"I can't give it to Lucas. I'm not-"

"I'll be back in a few days with more information."

Carter had already taken three steps away by the time Sienna managed to formulate another question.

"About what?"

"I've gotta go, he's waiting for me."

"Who?!"

Carter turned to face Sienna, but continued to walk backward, like some magnet was pulling him away and he was powerless to resist it.

"Don't tell your mother!"

"What-"

"Stay safe, kid."

With that, he turned his back to her and disappeared around the corner of the house.

"Carter!" Sienna was just debating going after him when she heard a voice behind her.

"Carter? Was Carter here?"

Throwing one final look around outside, Sienna closed the door and turned slowly, slipping the transparent object smoothly into her pocket. She looked up at her mother with a look of absolute confusion on her face.

"He was. But he's gone. He wanted me to tell you he'd be back in a few days to tell you something." She glanced back at the door with a frown. "Seemed like he was in a hurry."

* * *

"Bye, Mom. We'll be back in an hour or so .. unless Zoe manages to get herself eaten .. then we might be a little longer."

Zoe punched her brother as Elisabeth smiled weakly.

"Please don't even joke about that."

"Sorry." Josh grinned. "For what it's worth, it'd probably just spit her back out again. She'd talk it to death before long."

"Hey!"

Josh dogged his little sister's assault and leaped out the door.

"See you later!"

"Bye!" Elisabeth laughed as her youngest child charged out after him, catching the door as it flew shut behind them.

Jim wandered out of the bathroom, his hair still damp from the shower.

"What was that about?"

"They're going to the greenhouse." Elisabeth turned to him in amusement. "Apparently Tasha has some man-eating plants that only wake up at night. Zoe says they bite people sometimes, so naturally, she wouldn't rest until she'd seen them for herself."

".. ah."

"Yes." Elisabeth shook her head with another laugh and returned to the kitchen sink. "Do you want a cup of something?"

She glanced back around quickly a moment later. Jim had dropped down onto the floor on the other side of Vaughn, making the boy jump violently. As Maddy patted Vaughn's back to reassure him, Jim lay down with a groan and closed his eyes.

"Anything would be great, honey."

Elisabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Early to bed for everyone tonight, I think."

Jim had propped himself up onto his elbow and was now introducing himself to the child. Maddy watched with a hidden smile as the scene played itself out. Vaughn was watching Jim warily, but as he continued to mumble softly about inconsequential things such as baths and the hardness of the floor, the boy seemed to relax. Maddy grinned at him.

"Watch this."

She slowly raised her hands. Vaughn watched her closely. After waiting a moment, Maddy tugged lightly on her own ears and let her tongue tumble out of her mouth at the same time.

"Blep!"

Vaughn hesitated for a moment and looked at Jim, who was staring at Maddy as though she'd lost her mind. He cracked up laughing a second later as he met the little boy's concerned gaze.

"What?!" He shook his head at Vaughn. "What is she doing?!"

Vaughn turned back to Maddy, who repeated the action, trying not to laugh herself. This time, a smile appeared on the child's face for a second before he looked at Jim and became serious again. Maddy frowned and followed his gaze to her father's face.

"I think he wants you to do it."

Jim looked up at her dryly.

"No thank you."

"Oh, come on." Maddy slowly began to reach for his ears. Jim leaned away a little.

"Nooo, no, no, no .."

But she darted forward and grabbed his ears anyway. Jim sighed and relented, poking his tongue out unenthusiastically when Maddy provided the sound effect. Vaughn stared wide-eyed for a second and then shouted with delight and reached out to signal to Maddy to do it again. She did, and this time, he rocked back and forth a couple of times, laughing so hard he almost gave himself the hiccups. Jim pushed Maddy back gently with a laugh of his own.

"Alright, alright."

Maddy retreated to her own spot a few inches away, still laughing. Jim glanced up at Elisabeth, who had left the kitchen and was now leaning against the table to watch the whole interaction.

"You said he was two years old, right? Shouldn't he be walking and talking by now?"

"Not necessarily." Maddy and Elisabeth answered simultaneously. As Jim shook his head at the ceiling, Maddy continued with a laugh. "Babies sometimes don't start talking till they're three or four, especially if they've been through a rough time."

Jim raised an eyebrow at her.

"You all started talking fairly early on." A mischievious glint entered his eyes. "In fact, we couldn't stop _you_ talking even if we'd wanted to. Not much has changed, actually .." Jim ignored Maddy's "oh, funny" and continued ".. babbling away to yourself late into the night with your hands clasped in front of you like some sort of baby philosopher. We half expected to come out one morning to find you counselling a group of tiny troubled people at the end of your bed."

Maddy sighed a little.

"Too bad I had my hands full with Josh."

Her parents both laughed, Elisabeth going back to the previous topic from across the room.

"But really, I have a sneaking suspicion he can walk. He just hasn't bothered to show us yet." She shrugged. "Maybe he's forgotten he knows how."

Maddy grabbed Vaughn's hands and lifted his arms up, waving them around in the air with various odd sound effects accompanying the movements.

"Wooooo .. super baby can fly!"

As she received another of her father's looks, Maddy chuckled awkwardly and released Vaughn.

"Remember when we used to do that with Zoe? We made up such weird games together, monsters and villains and robots and weapons .. and Josh _always_ had to be the hero, of course." She shook her head wistfully as the boy in front of her grabbed her hand and patted it. "Guess that's all they are now, huh? .. memories."

"That's how life works, honey." Jim tapped the pot that sat between Vaughn's knees. The toddler stared at it curiously and then slammed his own hands down upon it, leaving them there in surprise as the inside of the pot echoed loudly. Jim and Maddy both laughed at the expression on his face as Jim looked back up at his eldest daughter.

"As sad as it is sometimes, growing up means leaving certain things behind."

Maddy nodded her resignation to the prospect.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." A small smile made its way back onto her face. "You have to admit though, it was pretty fun while it lasted."

Before Jim could answer, a knock came at the door, causing Maddy to jump up from the floor quickly.

"That must be Mark." She commented, as she made her way to answer it. "He's the only one who ever bothers to knock anymore."

Sure enough, it was Mark, and he was here to take Maddy away for the evening. Jim stood as they discussed their plans, largely unnoticed from the back of the room. He looked down at Vaughn, who turned from staring curiously at the group near the door to look up at Jim and raise his arms shyly. Jim bent down and picked him up, walking over to join the rest of the family.

"You're going out?"

"Yes sir." Reynolds nodded. "It's a beautiful night, and I thought we might make the most of it."

Maddy grinned at her father before he had a chance to remark on the idea.

"Bye, Dad."

She turned to Vaughn.

"And bye to you!"

They finished their goodbyes and left, disappearing quickly into the night.

Jim stood in the same place for a few seconds after the door shut, feeling as though someone had just punched him in the chest. It took him a moment to remember how to breathe, but as soon as he did, his breathing accelerated rapidly. No, no, not this again. What was happening to him? He was falling apart! He suddenly realised he was still holding Vaughn, who was watching his pale face silently. He turned to see his wife watching him in the same manner.

"Here, you take him." Jim handed the boy over to her hurriedly and walked to the window. Elisabeth adjusted her grip on Vaughn.

"Jim .."

Jim shook his head, his back to her. Elisabeth placed the boy down on the floor and distracted him with a large spoon before she followed her husband to the window. Jim had a hand over his mouth and was trying his best to gain control over his shaky breathing.

"She's leaving, Elisabeth." Jim's voice broke and he dropped his head, sliding his hand up to cover his eyes. "She's all grown up and I missed it. I've run out of time."

Elisabeth threw her arms around her husband as a sob broke from him.

"I've barely got her back and now I'm losing her again."

"No." Elisabeth held him tightly as she blinked back the tears in her own eyes. "She knows you love her, and she'll always love you. You've always been a wonderful father to her."

Jim began to shake his head.

"No-"

"Yes." Elisabeth interrupted firmly. "There were a few years that you wish you could take back, fine. But you've made up for them."

Jim looked up at her, wiping his watery eyes with the back of his hand.

"She's leaving."

"Yes. Our daughter is getting married. But Jim .." She raised a hand and wiped away a stray tear from his cheek. "It's a small colony. You're her father. She'll always need you."

When Jim didn't reply, his wife raised her eyebrows.

"Alright?"

He nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah."

"I love you so much." Elisabeth stroked his hair gently. He leaned forward so she could kiss his forehead. "And so does Maddy. And so do your other two children. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Good." Elisabeth flicked her eyes over to the solemn little face staring up at them from the floor. "I think someone's worried about you."

Jim wiped the last of the wetness from his face and turned to Vaughn with an attempt at a smile.

"Hey, buddy." He bend down and scooped him up, Vaughn still clinging to his spoon. "That wasn't on the agenda, was it?"

Vaughn glanced from Jim to Elisabeth and back to Jim, biting down on the spoon hesitantly. Jim raised a tired eyebrow.

"Hungry? Me too. What say we go find us something to eat?"

Without waiting for a response from either party, he turned and led the way into the kitchen.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

So I've started adding titles to my chapters! .. in the mid-end of a book. Yes. Good plan.  
I intend to go through and add titles to all the other chapters as well, but it probably won't be for some time.  
Also, I am trying to cut down on the absurd length of the chapters. They've been stretching longer and longer and I'm trying to curb them back a bit. No one wants to read huge blocks of text at a time!  
If you're still with me after all this time, bless you and thank you. Only 10 or so chapters left of this book! See you on the other side. ;)

\- George DeWhite


	30. Chapter 29 - False Step, You're History

**Chapter 29**

_One False Step and You're History_

"And warn that group that if they try to break in again, the only way they'll ever leave prison is in a coffin."

The younger man leaned his tablet against his artificial left arm and typed his notes up rapidly with his right. The aluminium limb was pretty well useless for most things, but at least the rubbery surface had some grip.

"Yes, sir. Should I reiterate the fact that there are no alien experiments taking place on any government premises?"

"No. Leave aliens out of this. We're having enough problems as it is."

"Yes, sir."

The man in the large leather chair beside him didn't even bother looking up. His attention was completely focused on the series of computer screens in front of him. Simon glanced around the dark room gloomily. The walls weren't even painted, and the rough red brick did little to improve the atmosphere. The room's only window was always shuttered .. not that the view was that impressive. It stared directly out onto the black murky hole far below .. not that much of it could be seen through the thick fog anyway. There were no pictures on the walls whatsoever, and the massive board room table that took up much of the centre of the room loomed out of the carpet like a turtle from beyond the grave. The large double doors always seemed to be closed to the outside world, even the carpet was shaggy, and ever since the secretary had been fired a few weeks ago, he couldn't even brighten up his day by scheming how he might 'accidentally' intercept her in the hall. The whole situation was downright depressing. Thus burdened by his gloomy thoughts, it took him a moment to realise his superior was still talking to him.

"And remember to send that letter of condolence to the secretary of defence. She's nothing more than an oversized puppet, but appearances are everything nowadays." The other man finally looked up at Simon abruptly, as though a sudden thought had occurred to him and couldn't wait another second. "Oh, and tell Parker-"

"Sir, you're receiving a call."

His superior made a warning noise in his throat and turned back to the screen, attempting to look polite. One never knew when the President was going to call, and regardless of current matters, it was customary to foster the illusion that the figurehead was still leading the country. He switched the video feed on abruptly.

_"Yes?" _The sight of the person on the other end made him pause, all hints of impatience falling from his face as he studied the image in front of him.

".. Dr. Taylor."

The video feed crackled as Lucas settled down into a more comfortable position in the massive chair, then folded his hands together and leaned forward a little, focusing his gaze on the other party. Simon gaped at the wobbly transmission. Of all the things he might have been predicting, this was .. unexpected.

"The Administration, I presume."

"You presume correctly." The large man confirmed. It wasn't his given name, but I'm sure any reasonable person reading the will have figured that out for themselves already. Truth be told, however, he was known by little else these days. He was quite fond of it really. After all, it was more than appropriate. In a world belonging to the famous and charismatic, people tended to overlook the fact that it was the people who understood the system that had the real power, the people that resided in the shadows behind the curtain. Out of sight, out of mind .. which was exactly the way he preferred to run his operation. He levelled his gaze on the young man, rapidly tiring of waiting for him to speak.

"What do you want?"

The hard, unwelcoming edge to his voice was unmistakable, but Lucas ignored it and slouched lazily against the chair.

"Come on, is that any way to address your most valued employee? I would've thought you'd be happy to see me again."

"Not as happy as you might think." The older man's mouth twisted dangerously, causing Lucas to rejoice inwardly in the fact that he was millions of years away and on the other end of a wireless connection.

"Hooper told us you'd turned."

Lucas snorted.

"Hooper was a whining rat. He'd say anything if it meant he got to climb higher up the ladder."

_"Was?" _

"Hooper's dead." Lucas attempted to remain indifferent, but couldn't resist a small sneer. "Botched kidnapping attempt."

The Admin frowned. This was a different story to the one he'd been told.

"Who was he kidnapping?"

_"Me."_ The young physicist scoffed. "His mistake."

"You killed him?"

"Not me. Hungry Titanoboa." Lucas allowed his gaze to wander aimlessly around the room. "Guess the jungle is still on my side."

"As I recall, it wasn't once."

"Ancient history."

His conversational partner raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed."

Lucas' attention snapped back to the screen as he seemed to grow suddenly impatient.

"Look, the point is, I'm here, aren't I? Hooper isn't."

The old man frowned.

"But the camp .. the colony .." He ventured slowly. "Hooper told us-"

"_Hooper_ wasn't the one who had to spend every waking minute with these people." Lucas snarled and glanced around warily again before turning back to the hologram and lowering his voice a little. "Trust me. Whatever I said - whatever I did - was necessary."

"Hmm." The man on the other side still didn't appear convinced. "Why did you take so long to contact us?"

"You really think they let me just wander the place? I couldn't get in here."

"Hooper told us you had them eating out of your hand."

"More or less." Lucas suppressed a grin. "But there are some things that immediately arouse suspicion. We recently had a flood. Bad one. I volunteered to fix the Eye. They agreed."

"And you don't think they suspect you?"

"Why would they? I'm one of them now." Lucas shrugged and leaned forward confidently. "Just doing my bit to help the colony recover. Just like any good citizen would."

The man on the other end appeared to consider this. Finally, the faintest trace of a smile appeared on his face.

"Very well. But you still haven't answered one question."

"What?"

"Why are you contacting us now?"

"I want out. I've figured out a way to escape this prison camp. I just need to know where I'm headed. If I know you people, you've got another site hidden away somewhere." He spread his hands amiably. "Just point me in the right direction."

"Fine. You're correct in assuming we had a .. contingency in place. I'll send through the coordinates. Come alone."

Lucas nodded.

"Thank you."

"And Dr. Taylor .. no surprises. You only get one chance to prove yourself. Don't even think about playing us, understand? One false step and you're history."

"Understood."

A set of several numbers flickered onto the screen three times before it went blank. That was the protocol. If Lucas hadn't managed to record them in that time, too bad. The Administrator switched off the screen and stared at it thoughtfully. He almost jumped when the voice came from behind him. He'd all but forgotten Simon existed.

"Do you think he actually believed you?"

The older man reclined in his chair a little and folded his hands across his waist calmly.

"Why wouldn't he? He might be intelligent, but when it comes to people, he hasn't got half the old man's instincts."

"Hasn't got the instincts of a baby slug." Simon snorted, but hurriedly concealed his chuckle as his superior continued to stare at him. Eventually - long after the staring had taken an awkward turn - the older man spoke.

"It's a shame, really. They could've made huge breakthroughs working together."

This time, the younger man was silent. His superior studied him with an approving smile for a moment before immediately taking on a more business-like manner. His smiled vanished as he turned his chair back around.

"Kill him."

* * *

_\- One Day Earlier -_

* * *

True to his word, Carter had returned within a few days. Shortly thereafter, an emergency meeting of the council had been announced. The colony leaders weren't exactly thrilled about being at the Sixer's beck and call, but the information he possessed was supposedly worth the embarrassment. Carter didn't disappoint. As it turned out, he had spotted several seemingly random enemy squadrons since leaving the colony.

_"I followed them for a little while, but they were scouting groups, professionals. And really good at covering their tracks, even for me." _

He hadn't been able to figure out where their base was, but there was a whole lot more of them than there should be for just remnants of the old group.

_"Most of these guys, I didn't recognise. They're new, which means they're getting in somewhere. There's more to this than we know. Something's going on." _Carter had hesitated there, visibly uneasy, while the rest of the council waited in silence._ "I think they're preparing another takeover. We need to act fast." _

Any reference to the visit with the former commander was left unsaid. It was likely to provoke more questions than it answered, and Carter hated being interviewed with a vengeance. Instead, Lucas was summoned and questioned in Carter's place. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about any second stage to the attempted invasion. Nor, Carter asserted, did the Sixers. This was an unexpected development from all sides. It would appear the former local allies of the future had been cast into the colony melting pot and given up for dead.

Eventually, Jim whistled quietly and the council had agreed to sleep on it and reconvene in the morning. There didn't appear to be any immediate danger to the colony. The enemy - if indeed they intended to be an enemy - seemed to be carefully planning and in no sort of rush. The colony leaders should take the time to come up with a suitable plan of their own. No one except Jim had noticed Lucas slip quietly away.

Now, Lucas sat down in the massive chair and stared at the small object in the palm of his hand. He had expected to be nervous. He had expected to have to force himself to complete the task. Instead, he found himself slipping into his old habit as easily as he had once done. With a quick glance around the dim blue-lit room, he reached over the side of the seat and plugged the little object in. His hand found the port automatically, like inserting a key into the ignition for the thousandth time. Immediately, the darkness in front of him sprang to life.

Truth be told, he hadn't been at all sure what to expect, but this distinguished-looking, greying man was unfamiliar. Simon, however, he had recognised, lurking behind the chair in the shadows. He had been tempted to address him directly, but from the little he knew of the twig-like man, if there was one thing Simon hated more than being singled out, it was being ignored completely. Therefore, Lucas did just that.

When the man's face disappeared, Lucas pulled the comms device out and the room was enveloped in black again. After sitting quietly for a moment or two, he looked up into the waiting eyes of someone in the corner of the room, concealed by the wall and leaning just inside the doorframe.

"So how'd I do?"

"Very convincing."

Lucas stood as Jim came forward and smiled at him.

"A little too convincing, if you ask me."

Lucas shrugged.

"Just like riding a bike."

He made to put the device back in his pocket, but a noise from Jim's throat and the outstretched hand in front of him made him think better of it. He surrendered the comms unit before he could change his mind.

"Did you get the coordinates?"

"In here." Lucas tapped his temple and made one last examination of the room, the hair on his back and neck still prickling. Logically, there was no way the future could access the Eye without the device being plugged in and switched on .. but he still felt their presence somehow, as though their eyes had simply retreated to the darkness to watch him instead of disappearing completely.

"Sure you won't forget them?" Jim's voice broke into his mind, shattering the illusion and bringing him back to reality. Lucas mentally shook himself and threw a bored expression Jim's way, rolling his eyes for good measure. The Commander responded with a similar look of his own.

"Alright then."

* * *

"Reilly!" Jim waved his head security officer over as he continued to walk quickly toward the Command Centre. Lucas had veered off to summon Boylan and Elisabeth, but was under strict instructions to catch up with him shortly.

"Grab that will you, Private?" Reilly hurriedly finished her burger and made her way over to where Jim was standing, Skye following close behind, a security tablet in one hand and a half-finished kebab in the other. It had been a very busy morning, but all her troop had worked hard and they had decided to stop for an early lunch at the markets - a treat for the already-dirty and tired soldiers.

"Sir, I'm pleased to report the security systems are all up and running - every single one of them."

"That's great, Reilly. Good work."

Reilly frowned as Lucas jogged up.

"Something wrong, sir?"

"I'm calling a council meeting."

Reilly frowned.

"Another one? So soon?"

"That's right."

Lucas raised an eyebrow as Skye attempted to take an unseen bite of her kebab.

"Hungry?"

She shot a look at him as the eyes of the other two turned to her. To her relief, Jim was in an unusual hurry and decided to take pity on her.

"Skye, go get Mira, will you?"

"Here, I'll take that." Reilly relieved her of the tablet as Skye nodded and darted away. "And careful with that stick! Don't poke someone's eye out!"

The answering grin disappeared quickly as Skye vanished around a corner. Reilly looked back at her superior worriedly.

"What's going on, sir?"

"I'll tell you inside."

Mira and Skye were the last to enter the building, but within an impressively short space of time, the entire council was gathered. Jim was impatient to start, and nodded to Lucas to begin practically as soon as Mira's feet stepped over the threshold. Skye turned to leave, but stopped cold when she saw what Lucas was holding. He raised it up for everyone to see and began his explanation.

"This is called an EyeCD. It stands for Eye Communications Device." He exchanged a brief glance with Skye before turning back to the room at large. "It's mine, but up until recently, it was lost. It connects to the Eye and transmits on a very specific frequency, allowing you to communicate securely with anyone who has a receiver."

Skye stared at the silver object in his hand as its uneven surface reflected the light. This device. He'd told her about it long ago, but had refused to give up the location. She'd assumed it was hidden somewhere far away and out of reach, but now of all places, it had turned up here. She frowned up at Lucas.

"How-"

"Carter." Lucas supplied. "Carter found it. Turns out the Phoenix guys stole it. He passed it on to Sienna, who .." with a glance at Jim ".. made sure it found its way to me."

He generously left out Sienna's middle-man. Her father would not have approved.

"Wait a minute, you'll have to start from the beginning." Malcolm frowned and folded his arms, leaning on the glass desktop behind him. "How did Jim know?"

"He didn't." Lucas answered. "Not until yesterday, that is."

"Lucas came to me yesterday afternoon with the device - EyeCD." Jim corrected himself, with a glance at Lucas, who nodded. "The meeting was over and I was alone, which I can only assume was the intention."

Lucas nodded again.

"Though he hardly seemed surprised when I walked in. I almost believed he was expecting me."

"Maybe I was." Jim smiled a little before looking away toward the entrance. "Skye, if you're going to stay, you might as well come in and stop loitering in the doorway."

He nodded as she stepped inside quietly and tried to remain inconspicuous by the wall, then turned back to the group and continued.

"Anyway, he showed me the device and proposed a plan. I happened to think it was a good idea, not to mention one of the only chances we have to get ahead of these guys and see what they might be up to. It paid off."

".. how?" Reilly looked from Jim to Lucas in confusion, still not quite grasping the trajectory of the conversation. Boylan, however, had already put the pieces together.

"They contacted the future. Correct?"

"Ding ding." Jim threw a wry smile in the barkeeper's direction. "They gave us the coordinates for their new camp. Here."

He held up a piece of paper. Elisabeth's calm voice came from the corner of the room, belying the uneasiness that was taking hold of her stomach. There was still a piece of this puzzle missing.

"They just .. _gave_ you the coordinates to their secret camp. In exchange for what?"

The room was silent for a moment as Jim glanced sideways, waiting for his co-conspirator to finish the story. Skye followed his gaze until her eyes came to rest on Lucas' face.

"You."

He smiled down at her.

"Me."

"No." Boylan shut the suggestion down immediately. "There's no way we're giving him to them!"

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"I had no idea you-"

"With him on their side, they'll destroy us all over again!"

Lucas clamped his mouth shut and smiled dryly to himself.

"Right. Well, you have nothing to worry about. I'm not going anywhere near that camp."

"Actually, you are."

He looked up quickly at Jim.

"What?"

"Lucas, I need you present just in case something goes wrong."

"Me? Don't you think, under the circumstances-"

"These circumstances are exactly why I need you to come. If we get caught, we're going to need you to explain what's actually going on."

Lucas stared at him warily.

"And what .. will actually be going on?"

Jim patted his shoulder.

"You're coming to meet them just like you planned. Unfortunately, you're too air-headed to realise we were following you."

".. right."

"This is a scouting mission. No one gets caught, no one engages in battle. We get as close as we can, see what's going on, and get out. Obviously, no one can predict what's going to happen in the field, but we have to risk it. We have little choice. They can't be allowed to prepare an invasion in secret."

Jim glanced at Elisabeth. She had been present at the previous day's meeting with Carter. She knew what was at stake, and judging by her expression, she knew what had to be done. He offered her a reassuring smile. She returned it, accompanied by a gentle nod. She didn't like it, but she would stand behind him.

Jim turned to Reilly.

"I feel it only fair to offer you the third position. You're one of my best soldiers, and I can't keep dropping the responsibility onto you. Guzman can handle the colony for a few days. What do you say?"

Reilly hesitated. There was a part of her that did, in fact, want to go very much, but there was also another part .. a part that had been growing into the light ever since she had first stepped up to Washington's role. This colony was as much her responsibility now as it was Jim's, though she would never undermine his authority by outright stating the fact. She trusted Guzman and was sure of the fact that he could handle himself, but if anyone was going to run things in the Commander's absence, it was her job. She smiled as her internal battle came to a peaceful resolution. She was relied upon and looked up to, she knew how everything ought to be run, and she provided stability in Jim's absence. This is where she needed to be.

"Thank you, sir." Reilly stepped forward formally. "But it would be an honour to oversee Terra Nova until you return, if you'll allow me to."

Jim smiled and nodded solemnly, suppressing a surge of affection for his second-in-command.

"Then I'll leave the colony in your capable hands once again. I can't think of anyone I trust more with the job."

"Thank you, sir." Reilly stepped back, obviously pleased.

"Now. Who else." Jim continued, back to business. "I'll go, obviously, and-"

"Me?" Skye offered tentatively, stepping toward Jim. "You told me I could go this time, remember?"

He met her hopeful gaze firmly.

"That was only because you weren't supposed to go last time. And I didn't count on this being another track-the-bad-guys-down expedition either." He muttered. "And if I bring you, I'm gonna have to find another female to go along and-"

"Why?! Lieutenant Washington went on enough missions and she was usually the only woman."

"Wash was older. She could take care of herself."

Skye's eyes flashed indignantly, but Jim remained unapologetic. She turned to her immediate superior for support.

"I've learned a lot over the past year. Haven't I, Reilly?"

Reilly, however surprised she may have felt at having being dragged into the discussion, nodded calmly.

"Yes, she has. One of my best recruits."

Jim was unmoved.

"And if Reilly was coming, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But-"

"But you don't trust me on my own." Skye shook her head and readjusted her strategy. Her disrespectful tone would get her nowhere and she knew it, but how else could she make him understand ..

"I've seen these guys first-hand. I know more about how they operate than pretty much anyone else you could bring along. I have the experience from last time to work off of, and I can shoot better than most people if we do get into trouble. And you know how I react in a crisis situation, so in some ways, I'm _less_ of a risk. Please, I have to come. I can't just sit here while you go off and investigate, I'll go crazy. Please. I'll listen, I'll carry whatever you want me to, I'll take first watch every night, and I promise .." She raised her hands in a final plea. ".. you won't even notice I'm female."

Jim studied her thoughtfully.

"You put up a good case, but I can't help but think that a more experienced soldier wouldn't have to sell themselves so hard. Are you trying to convince me or yourself? Do _you_ think you're ready for this?"

"Yes." Skye said, without a moment of hesitation. "And respectfully, even a more experienced soldier has to start somewhere, don't they?"

Jim nodded slowly, considering her words, then glanced at Lucas. The young scientist didn't offer any helpful suggestions. After a moment, Reilly stepped forward again.

"With respect, sir, there are few women in security as it is. I understand where your thinking is coming from, and I appreciate the desire to keep us safe .. but to try and chaperone us all the time is, frankly, impractical."

Jim raised an eyebrow.

"Is that right?"

"Yes, sir." Reilly glanced at Skye. "Now I'm not saying Skye _should_ go - there are plenty of more highly trained soldiers that would jump at the opportunity; I'm sure Skye knows that - but if you think it's for the best, I believe she's up to the task. She's worked hard on her self-defence drills and you know she can sneak around when she wants to."

Jim exchanged a hidden smile with Reilly as Skye dropped her eyes, her cheeks flaming. After a moment, he addressed Skye directly.

"You'd have to get checked out by Elisabeth to make sure you're fit for duty."

She looked up quickly.

"Got the all-clear last week."

Jim looked over at his wife, who nodded in conformation. Jim raised his hands in surrender.

"Very well. You're in. But not a word to anyone about it." He hesitated before adding "Except your mother, of course."

Skye swallowed her yelp of excitement and simply nodded in response. Jim turned to Reilly.

"One more, I think. Anyone you've got in mind?"

It was shortly thereafter decided that Curran should come along to make up the fourth member of the party. Time was of the essence. Preparations would be made throughout that day. They would take one Rhino and leave early in the morning. The colony would have to be told, of course, but Jim preferred to keep the true intention of the mission as quiet as possible for as long as he could. Several members of the security team knew exactly what was going on, but most people only knew they were conducting some surveillance. That was the way Jim preferred it.

* * *

"Dr. Wallace!"

"Maddy." Malcolm exchanged a look with Casey Durwin as the girl ran up behind him. "What is it? I could hear your agitated respiration from the other side of the colony."

He put down a small glass cube and picked up another, squinting suspiciously at it.

"Are you sure this is Egyptian moss? It looks too gold to me."

"Sure as they come." Durwin nodded matter-of-factly. "It's just the afternoon sun. Makes it look yellower."

Malcolm's eye twitched down at him before returning to the specimen.

"Mm."

"It's the eggs!" Maddy burst out, after making a valiant attempt to control her breathing. "The miniature Komodo eggs are hatching!"

Malcolm slammed the glass cube down onto the table so hard that both Maddy and Casey flinched. The latter barked a protest at Malcolm's hurriedly retreating back.

"What about the specimens?!"

"That's not Egyptian moss!" Malcolm yelled back over his shoulder. "It's Sicilian moss! Tell your underlings to put on their glasses next time!"

Leaving Durwin behind to hold the cube up to the light and study it with a frown, Maddy caught up with Malcolm. The head researcher glanced at her rebukingly.

"Why didn't you come get me sooner?!"

"I tried to contact you!" Maddy defended herself, trying to keep pace with his rapid steps. "Why is your radio off?!"

"Oh." Malcolm hurriedly sidestepped a random passerby and glanced at his assistant again. "I turned it off. Got sick of Fredericks' constant whining about his wood rot spores."

"Eh." Maddy's face twisted sympathetically, but when she looked at him a moment later, all trace of sympathy had fallen away. Her eyes widened as they were drawn upwards. She reached for his arm, her voice taking on a sharp note.

"Malcolm-"

Malcolm cleared his throat disapprovingly.

"I've told you before. You will address me as Dr. WaAAHHH!"

Several of the market people looked up curiously as Malcolm lurched sideways and landed beside one of the stalls, taking an unfortunately-situated young woman with him. The pterosaur that had almost landed on him had crashed to the ground and was now waving its head gently, as though it had thoroughly dazed itself. Malcolm sprang up like a coiled spring and apologetically helped the girl up as well. He turned to the pterosaur, who didn't seem to understand what had just happened. Upon first glance, it was apparent that its left wing was bent strangely. It was small, for a pterosaur of the pteranodon variety that is, barely the size of a fully grown bald eagle. Probably hadn't hit its adolescent growth spurt yet, Malcolm surmised, but it couldn't be far off. Maddy, who had more or less managed to sidestep the incident, frowned as she watched it pitifully attempt to regain its bearings.

"Easy .. I think its wing might be broken."

"Looks that way." Malcolm commented grimly, tilting his head to watch the pterosaur. It was still waving its own head, swaying it back and forth over and over again in a dizzying repetition of the movement. "He's probably in shock. Everybody stay back. Clear the area. Maddy, will you-"

The sound of a nearby pistol charging up brought an abrupt end to his assessment.

"No!" He turned to the security team member and stood in front of the gun, holding a hand out. "Don't shoot it! Are you mad?! Maddy .." turning to his assistant ".. go and get the tranq gun."

As Maddy nodded and headed off quickly, a nearby girl threw a playful look at Malcolm.

"So can I call you Doctor Wah from now on then?"

Malcolm shot the young woman a look of such cold fury that she mentally vowed never to address him as anything ever again.

By the time Maddy had returned with the tranquillisers, the young pterosaur had regained enough stability to hop about a little, staring inquisitively around at the nearby stalls and spectators. Malcolm raised the pistol with a twinge of guilt.

"Lights out."

The pterosaur stared at him with its large clear eyes, obviously not understanding what was about to happen, but sensing some imminent development in his circumstances. Malcolm aimed for its unharmed shoulder.

"Sorry, old thing, but you'd rather be sleeping for this next part. Trust me."

With that, he pulled the trigger unceremoniously. The dart came out clean and hit his intended target straight on. Within the space of a few minutes, the pterosaur was lying conked out on the gravel. Malcolm prided himself on .. well, truth be told, Malcolm prided himself on a lot of things, but not least of all was being a decent shot with a pistol. With the pterosaur out like a light, Malcolm and Maddy knelt beside him and got to work. The analysis and subsequent medical procedure didn't take long. They finished up their makeshift splint and leaned back to survey their efforts. Malcolm nodded at his assistant.

"Good job. That was neat work, if I do say so myself."

"Indeed."

They turned to see Jim watching from the sidelines with a smile. He stepped forward to help the two substitute veterinarians up, pausing to brush a patch of dirt off Malcolm's shoulder.

"Heard you were almost flattened. You alright?"

The head researcher shoved the helping hand away roughly, turning to pass his medical kit to Maddy.

"Fine. I just want to know why in the blazes we have so many wild animals dropping in for medical attention lately!"

"They must sense your approachable and sensitive nature."

Malcolm rolled his eyes as he finished brushing himself off.

"Funny."

Jim grinned and nodded towards the injured animal.

"How is he?"

"He's lucky. It's just sprained. Though what happened to him to cause him to plummet from the sky is anyone's guess. We'll keep him in the largest cage we've got at the Lab. Maddy, get some of the boys at the Lab to bring the big cage over, will you? It's empty now."

Maddy nodded and set off once again. Jim watched her go for a moment and then cast an innocent glance at his companion.

"So what are you gonna call it? .. oh, I guess Malcolmus is already taken, huh?"

Malcolm ignored the barb and folded his arms.

"All going well, he won't be here long enough to warrant a name. He's gonna wake up with a nasty headache, but he'll have to deal with it for a little while. He should be right as rain soon enough." Malcolm glanced at Jim. "You all packed then?"

"Yep. Just heading over to make sure the Rhino's ready for lift-off."

"Tally-ho."

Jim hesitated.

"You absolutely sure you don't want to come?"

"Positive." Malcolm smiled pleasantly and smacked the Commander's shoulder. "You just make sure you come back in one piece or don't bother coming back at all."

"You're a real pal, Malcolm."

"I know. It's my sensitive nature."


	31. Chapter 30 - From the Beginning

**Chapter 30**

_From the Beginning_

Kensinge lit the small candle in satisfaction. Sure, with the portal track fully functional now, all the electric devices in the world were at their disposal, but there was still something to be said for the simplistic beauty of a candle. She liked to watch the flame bounce and flicker and reach into thin air before dying away again. It was a living thing, mesmerising, and she was always a little sad to have to put it out. With all the gases and pollutants in the future air, open flames had been banned since before she was born, so a candle was a delightful novelty of the past. She placed the magnifying bulb over the flame as her chief of security entered.

"You wanted to see me?"

Kensinge raised her chin and stared seriously at him.

"Esteban. Sit down."

He glanced around in vain for something to sit on. Kensinge inwardly tore herself to shreds for not thinking of the problem sooner. So much for trying to appear in control of the situation. She smiled briefly and began to drag a heavy plastic crate out from the corner of the room. When he saw what she was doing, he jumped to help her. She wasn't sure whether she was more grateful for or infuriated by the help, but within seconds, they had both taken their seats at the small table. Esteban sat quietly and waited for her to tell him why he had been summoned. After ducking to the door and looking out for a few seconds, the uneasy scientist returned to the table and sat near him, folding her hands on the rough surface. When she spoke, she did so in such a low voice, that he had to lean forward a little just to hear her clearly.

"How much do you know about the Probe?"

He leaned back and shrugged.

"It's a device that the future government sent back in time to detect whether this world was inhabitable for humans and whether it existed in the same time stream or an entirely new one. Correct?"

"Yes. And no." Kensinge continued as her head of security frowned. "I mean, yes, you're correct, but what you described is only scratching the surface of what that device is capable of. The Probe can map terrain for hundreds of miles, both above ground and under it. It can identify life forms. It can transmit through fractures by locating them."

Esteban nodded slowly. This information was more detailed than any explanation he'd heard before, but it wasn't necessarily surprising. Kensinge took a deep breath and continued, making up her mind to commit to the conversation.

"This device contains the technology to _create_ time fractures."

Esteban was nonplussed.

".. _create_ them."

Kensinge nodded in affirmation.

"Correct."

"How many of these devices are there?"

"As far as we know .. one."

The soldier stared at her.

"And they sent it millions of years into the past? Why on earth would they do that?"

Kensinge shrugged, evidently prepared for the question.

"To protect it. To preserve it. This is a safeguard, a backup. Good thing, too. The original experiment was closely guarded. Only a few people knew about it." She hesitated. "It was kept in one location."

Realisation suddenly dawned on his face.

"Hope Plaza."

"Hope Plaza." She confirmed. He folded his hands together and stared toward the back wall with a frown. The more his mind came to grips with this new information, the more unanswered questions seemed to be cropping up.

"But why are we leaving the Probe in Terra Nova then? Why don't we just go get it?"

"It's safer there for now." A moment of worry creased her forehead. "I'm only telling you this because you've proven yourself to be loyal and reliable, and you seem to have an element of common sense, so against my better judgement, I trust you. I'm just not sure our employers can be similarly trusted. I haven't told them I've been able to get in there yet. It's safe in Terra Nova for now, but they'll get impatient one day. I'm sure they're already beginning to wonder what's taking so long .."

Esteban nodded slowly.

"But won't they just make another one?"

Kensinge shook her head.

"The blueprints have disappeared, along with the scientist who created them. He just .. vanished a couple of years ago. I don't think even the government knows where. They've tried conducting searches, but to no avail. I could figure out how to replicate it if I had the time to study it, but for now, it's safer back there."

"But if it's that important, why didn't the original Phoenix Group just take the Probe when they were within arms' reach of it?"

Kensinge snorted.

"You think THOSE guys were in the loop? Those guys were nothing more than trained apes, hired by a group of power-hungry warlords intent on making money off the new world. Cretans." Kensinge spat out in disgust. "They were never worthy of it."

"No .." Her head of security agreed, glancing around as though he could see past the rickety walls into the trees and oceans and sandy beaches that surrounded their little home away from home. They were living in a paradise, albeit a dangerous one. Only a group of idiots would want to destroy it for profit. He looked back to Kensinge to see a flicker of a smile on her face.

"You understand, don't you? That's why I chose you. You have more sense than most of these military robots."

"Even soldiers have to survive on something." He responded quietly. She shrugged.

"Be that as it may .. we all have a choice. Destroy this world or protect it."

Esteban looked at her warily.

"You're beginning to sound as though you're on the Terra Novans' side."

"No." Kensinge eyed him coldly. "I'm not on any side. I'll destroy them if I have to. This world is bigger than any of us."

"And you believe you're the best person to protect it."

Her expression seemed to soften a little as she turned her eyes back to the flame.

"I have to be."

Esteban frowned at her.

"Hold on, I thought you were hired by the government for the same reasons - prepare the world for them so they can come in and do whatever they want with it."

"Yes and no." Kensinge smiled a little. "Like I said, we all have a choice. My employers - also Lucas Taylor's former employers - still have the same old goal. What they don't realise is that they're not in charge anymore. They're being usurped from within."

Esteban's frown deepened.

"What do you mean?"

Kensinge folded her arms on the table and eyed him carefully.

"First of all, I want to know what motivates you. If it's money, I'll make sure you get more than you'd ever hoped for if your loyalty remains with me. Money's easy. If it's power, I'll give you the running of the colony when we take over. Goodness knows, I've no desire for it. So what is it?"

Esteban looked down at his hands and was silent for a long moment.

"I've been in this line of work all my life. It's all I know." He looked her in the eye. "Freedom. No more orders, no more serving. When this is all over, I go where I want and do what I want, with enough resources to get me by. That's all."

"'That's all'?" Kensinge's resulting smile was the most genuine he'd seen from her thus far. "Very well. You shall have it."

"Good." Esteban smiled briefly as well, then resumed his usual demeanour. "Now .. you were saying?"

The scientist frowned.

"There's so many different groups trying to get their hands on this place, I hardly know where to begin when it comes down to it. Everyone seems to be working for three different sides at once, everyone's a double agent. Even I am."

Esteban shook his head slowly, trying to reign in his confusion long enough to put the pieces together in his mind.

"Start from the beginning."

Kensinge nodded resolutely and leaned forward on the table.

"Alright, let me explain it this way. Back when Commander Taylor was sent through, the government was more complete than it is now, less _fractured_ for lack of a better term. They all thought they were working for the same goal - prepare the new world for them to eventually escape to. They wanted to flee here, to abandon old Earth and the people in it and seek refuge in this place."

"But they weren't all working for the same goal."

"No, obviously, they weren't. There was a series of corrupt officials working from inside the government that had alternate plans for the new world. Those officials simply wanted to leech what they could from the world and destroy the rest, in order to get rich and live out their days, ruling in comfort back in the future. Such a small-minded view, they didn't realise that they were cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Nevertheless, they couldn't see past the dollar signs in their own eyes, so they wiped out anything that stood in their way. Those officials sent Lucas and the Sixers to tear the colony down from the inside. Taylor had grown too strong for them and they didn't want to get their hands dirty. They also sent the original Phoenix Group .. and me. And you."

Esteban nodded gravely.

"I figured as much."

"Except what they didn't know was that there were a few members of the government that had become aware of their schemes. Senator Anderson, for one. He died last year blowing up the new Hope Plaza, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Anderson realised what they were up to and bought the Sixers out himself, selecting a woman to lead them that he knew would remain loyal to him under any circumstances that might arise."

"Mira."

Kensinge nodded.

"Mira led the Sixers as though she was working for the corrupt officials. She walked a very fine line. Their job was to protect the new world from anyone that might try to harm it, preserving it by any means necessary, all while monitoring and attempting to control Taylor. What overcomplicated matters was that Anderson suspected Taylor was working for the corrupt side of the government. It seems he was wrong, but I suppose the ongoing tension between the Sixers and the colony helped to keep up appearances."

"Taylor discovered they were working against him?"

"He was furious. One night, the Sixers abandoned the colony and vanished. They'd been at war ever since until Hooper gave them a common enemy to fight. As far as we know, they've moved back to the colony, though there are still some .. stress fractures."

The soldier's mouth curled up into a half-smile.

"So it would seem."

"Yes." Kensinge took a deep breath and glanced around nervously. "By now, most of the original government have been removed in favour of the corrupt ones if they haven't become corrupt themselves, not that the original selfish lot were much better. Fairly recently, they made a deal with the military leaders. Power in exchange for muscle. The government of today is so interwoven with the military that it's almost impossible to tell one from the other anymore. They're two sides of the same coin. There are very few decent politicians left, but they do exist, though they don't know the truth. As far as they're concerned, the only existing fracture was destroyed. They spend their time now focused on helping and reassuring the people, not that there's much they can say or do. There's no substitute for hope."

Esteban nodded again. The situation was complicated, but he was keeping up with it so far.

"And Lucas?"

"Oh, Lucas is just a jerk." Kensinge grinned. "In the end, I don't think the government controlled him as well as they thought they did. He was in it for his own reasons, and so he was only told what he needed to know in order for each side to get what they needed from each other."

"And you?"

"I'm working for the same people you're working for." Kensinge bit her lip. "Unless I'm not. I told you the officials who hired us didn't know what the Probe was capable of."

Esteban watched her closely, waiting for her to continue. Kensinge stared at the dying candle in front of her.

"I also work for another organisation. They're called the Guild of Scientists."

"I've never heard of them."

"No, you wouldn't have." Kensinge's mouth twitched a little. "They work from the shadows, like most organisations nowadays, I suppose. You never really can tell who's with who. Anyway, they were led by Anderson, before he died."

She looked up at her head of security quickly, watching for signs of surprise on his face. There was none.

"Since his death, they've gone further underground, become more secretive than ever. We don't really know who leads us now. He doesn't allow anyone to meet him face to face. But he funds the operation and tends to rely on our judgement rather than giving us orders, so no one really cares so long as he signs the cheques, so to speak."

"What's the point of this guild?"

"To create. To protect. To advance science. We had to band together or the government would have bought us all out. We wouldn't have had a choice. As it is, the ruling authorities still rely on us for projects and things, but we work outside of government bounds. They're not happy about it, especially when they're kept in the dark, but there's not much they can do about the situation." A spark of satisfaction lit up her eyes momentarily. "When it comes down to it, we're the only group that knows what's really going on. It was one of our member that created the Probe. The government used it, but they didn't know the capabilities of the device they were borrowing."

"So now what? What are the guild hoping to gain through all this?"

"Oh." Kensinge shrugged. "Money, power, they're about as self-interested as all the rest, but they also value life. They live by a code of ethics, unlike most of these cavemen. We understand that sacrifices sometimes have to be made, but that the benefit must far outweigh the cost. Nothing is wasted."

"So."

"So .." Kensinge finished grimly. "The government wants the Probe back, because somehow it seems they've managed to get wind of how powerful it is. The guild also wants it back, but they're concerned they won't be able to protect it, so for now it stays here. We're using a priceless device to spy on our neighbours .."

Her mind seemed to wander for a second, but when she turned her attention back to her head of security, her manner was as grave as ever.

"But as far as anyone else is concerned, we work for the military government. And none of the information I've shared with you leaves this room. Understood?"

Esteban nodded again, then after a moment of silence, he stood, his respectful demeanour taken up again as he addressed her.

"Thank you."

Kensinge looked up and met his solemn gaze.

"For what exactly?"

"For trusting me."

Before she could reply, the door swung open and another solider charged wildly into the room.

"Ma'am!" He slid to a stop directly in front of them and glanced from one to the other apologetically. "Sorry to interrupt. We've had an unexpected arrival."

Kensinge stood in alarm.

"Who is it?!"

The young soldier was suddenly at a loss for words. He wrung his hands anxiously.

"It's .. It's .."

"Me."

Kensinge stared up at the shadowy figure filling the doorway. The young soldier in front of her gasped and moved back towards the wall. Esteban looked from the stranger in the entrance to the face of the woman beside him. He was alert and ready to defend her if need be, but she didn't seem at all concerned. In fact, he thought he could sense a hint of satisfaction in her expression. She was pleased to see this man. After another few seconds of silence, Kensinge tilted her head dryly.

"Simon, are you going to spend all night haunting my doorway or are you going to come in?"

The stranger grinned and entered, the dim candlelight reflecting off his white teeth. Kensinge addressed her two soldiers calmly.

"You two are dismissed. Simon's an old friend."

Esteban led the way out of the room, taking the younger soldier with him. He wasn't happy about the situation, but she had left him little choice in the matter. Despite their apparent partnership, he was still obliged to keep up appearances and obey her orders. He sent his younger counterpart away and stationed himself nearby to keep watching over the shack. Inside, Kensinge raised an eyebrow.

"I assume there's a reason you're here and this isn't just a friendly visit."

Simon shrugged.

"Well, it's a friendly visit as well."

"Hm." Kensinge watched her candle fizzle out and throw the room into blackness once more. She turned back to Simon's dark outline. "Shall we go for a walk?"

"Please." The voice came from somewhere in front of her. "I'm sorry to say I can't stay long. I was only sent to deliver a message. But I'd be delighted if you walked back to the dock with me."

"Very well." She stepped past him and out into the moonlight. "You better get talking then."

Simon wandered beside her as they left the shack behind, casting a brief glance at Esteban in the distance.

"Does he always look at you like that?"

"You said you had a message to deliver." Kensinge prompted impatiently. "What is it?"

"You have to understand that I only want what's best for you. You're playing a dangerous game out here. I know how you think." He stared out across the shimmering water contentedly, scratching a phantom itch in his synthetic arm. "I've come with both an instruction and a warning."

"A warning? Ominous." She folded her arms and followed his gaze out across the ocean. "You know I don't act recklessly or without calculation."

"And yet .." Simon shook his head and glanced sideways at her. "These aren't petty criminals you're making deals with now. They're a lot harder to manipulate. I urge you to be careful. You can only bend the system so far before it swings back and slaps you in the face."

Kensinge smirked at him.

"Bold words coming from the guy that had a neck beard in college."

Simon laughed.

"That was a mistake."

She nodded her emphatic agreement and stared up at him again.

"So why are you really here?"

Simon met her eyes for a moment and then continued walking out across the dock. There was a small boat tethered alongside it that Kensinge didn't recognise. Simon paused as he reached it and turned her to face him.

"Lucas Taylor is coming."

Kensinge blinked at him in surprise.

"Here?"

"Yes, here. We're not sure exactly when, but it shouldn't be long. He probably won't be alone. Keep a look out. Our esteemed leader has made a deal to extract him from his .. current circumstances."

She nodded in understanding.

"He thinks he's been saved. He's walking to his death, isn't he?"

Simon's half-smile was his only reply.

"What am I supposed to do? I'm not an assassin."

Simon shrugged.

"Get your men to dispose of him, I don't care. That big lug over there ought to do the job fairly efficiently, but make sure you witness it, and check that he's really dead afterwards."

"Naturally. We wouldn't want a half-dead traitor scientist walking around here, would we? This place is weird enough already."

Simon eyed her.

"So you'll do it?"

"I'll see what I can do."

He groaned under his breath.

"Heather, this can't be a repeat of last time. You have to do as you're told."

She snorted humourlessly.

"Yes, Mum."

Simon put a hand on the side of his boat, swaying gently with the comforting up and down motion of the vessel.

"I'm serious. The boss wants him gone, so either way, he's a dead man walking."

"I'll take care of it."

Simon's eyes bored into hers, as though he was trying to telepathically convey to her his own sense of urgency.

"Make sure you do. If you fail, it's on all of our heads. We're to have no mistakes. Understand?"

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow teasingly.

"Naw, you scared, Simon?"

_"Understand?" _

Kensinge stared up at her childhood friend with a bored expression.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Good." He breathed out deeply in relief and jumped into his boat, vaulting over the rail with surprising agility. As he untied the knot that held him steady, he looked back at Kensinge one last time.

"I'll be back to collect the body when the job's done. Don't fail."

"I never fail."

With a low hum, the white and blue watercraft powered up. Simon threw a brief wave back toward the docks as he departed. After a few seconds, a stunning flash of blue briefly lit up the length of the coastline. It faded as quickly as it had appeared, and once again, all that remained was darkness, though a picture had been burned into Simon's mind in that instant as he looked back, an image that would forever haunt him, though he never knew exactly why. Black as the night itself, but made all the more striking by the silhouette of electric colour that surrounded it - the ghostly outline of a lone figure on the docks.


End file.
